A New Breed
by WanderingSoulsofDarkness
Summary: When Hansel wakes up injured in a strange woman's hut, he has no idea he's about to set off a chain of events that could potentially destroy the world. With the beautiful stranger's ties to the oldest and darkest of witches, he and Gretel will find themselves in for the fight of their lives. M for language, gore, and romance. (Hansel x OC) Bad at summaries, please read!
1. Chapter 1

Set two years after the end of the movie!

This won't be too long of a story, maybe about 8 chapters total depending on how long each chapter is. Please let me know what you guys think. Keep in mind Raena (Main OC) won't be developed much within this first chapter, but in the next two you'll learn a whole lot about her! So, please just bare with me at the beginning!

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own anything that has to do with **Hansel and Gretel**! I only own my personal original characters!

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She didn't have to save him, it would have been just as easy to leave him there bleeding out until death took him. It would definitely have been much safer than taking him back to her small hut and tend to his wounds. Letting out a sigh, Raena began quietly cursing herself.

"You can't have left him there; if you did he'd have died… What if he didn't die? What if his sister had come along and found him?... What if she's bleeding out somewhere else from another fight with a different witch and they both died?..." With a shake of her head she turned back to the shirtless injured man currently resting on her bed. Her eyes widened in surprised when she found him sitting up, blue eyes locked on her with a crooked grin plastered on his lips.

"I suppose you know who I am then?" His voice was rough and heavy, his breathing a bit shallow from the extent of his injuries.

Raena gave a curt nod as she took a few small steps back away from him, her grip tightening around the cloth in her hand.

"And my sister, I'm to understand that she's not here and probably doesn't know where I am?"

She gave another nod and bit the inside of her bottom lip.

"Right." Taking a look at the healing wounds on his abdomen, Hansel raised a brow. "What happened, exactly?"

"I-I found you." She gestured towards the south window of her home. "A few hundred yards south of here. Y-you were wounded fighting-"

"A dark witch? Yeah, that's kind of my job." Wincing from moving too quickly, he raised a brow at the brunette across from him. "So you're a white witch?"

A lump caught in her throat as she took another step back and thought of how best to avoid that conversation. "I don't _take_ life, I _give_ it. When I can. At least." There was a moment of silence as Raena waited for him to either believe her, or decide to kill her.

"I appreciate your help. Do you have any idea where my sister might be?"

Sighing internally she shook her head. "I-I suppose she might be somewhere nearby, but I-I haven't seen her." Taking a deep breath, she forced a smile. "You need to rest still, I'll go out and try to find her."

Hansel narrowed his eyes in suspicion, taking a quit look around the small hut. "You're going to leave me here and go find my sister?"

"Yes. If you don't rest and allow my tonics to take full effect then you may reinjure yourself." After a slight pause she gestured towards the bed he was sitting on. "Y-your weapons are underneath of the bed. If you should need them."

"You do know that we don't kill white witches, don't you?" His words were spoken softly as if in an attempt to sooth and calm her.

Raena nodded, clearly her nervousness was showing. "I am aware of that, yes." She turned, quickly gathering a few ingredients for a tracking spell and combining them in a stone bowl. "I'll return soon, hopefully with your sister in tow." Receiving a nod in return, she headed out of the hut and back into the woods.

* * *

Raena didn't stop muttering curses to herself until she reached the small clearing that she had found Hansel in. It hadn't originally been a clearing; it became one when Hansel and the dark witch Mirona had flown in on her broomstick and crash landed. They took some of the nearby trees with them, shards of splintered wood and misplaced leaves strewn about.

"It's almost over, Rae. Just find Gretel, return her to her brother, and then they'll be on their way and none will be the wiser." Kneeling and placing the stone bowl on the ground in front of her she rolled her honey-colored eyes. "Because nothing bad could possibly come from helping the witch hunters." She closed her eyes to compose herself as she drew her small dagger from the sheathe around her ankle, hidden beneath the folds of her skirts. Holding her left palm open, Raena drew the blade across her skin and tilted it over the stone bowl. She could feel the life force being transferred as it ignited the items already within the bowl, a white flash on the other side of her eyelids.

A dark fog clouded her mind as she stood, straightening and turning her face to the sky. Hands turning upwards and stretching out at her sides, Raena opened her eyes but saw not the trees that had been above her head just a few seconds ago. She was in the same woods, a few miles away, the scent of blood and sweat guiding her. Time moved differently, both slow and yet much faster all at the same time. There was a fight just ahead of her, three witches fighting Gretel, and a troll, and a boy… The fourth had tried to get away, and Hansel had followed her, catching a ride attached to her broom.

Raena inhaled deeply, taking hold of animals and tracking Gretel and her companions through the woods. When at last she found them, she transferred her energy into Gretel, seeing everything from her eyes. The area of the woods that she was running through was familiar, fallen trees and the ground destroyed: signs of a struggle. Raena realized that she was close by, and she withdrew her vision. Just as she closed her hands, she felt a sharp pain in her right shoulder-blade.

She took a sharp breath as she felt a bullet rip through her shoulder-blade and into her heart, coming out the front of her right chest. Yes. Her heart was on her right side. And a bullet had just ripped straight through it. A piercing scream escaped her lips as she dropped to her knees and fell forward onto her hands.

"Edward, grab her!"

Two large hands wrapped around Raena's shoulders and hoisted her up back onto her feet, where her hair was grabbed and she was thrown backwards into a tree and the wind was knocked right out of her. Before she could manage to get a breath Gretel was in front of her, hand on her throat. The boy appeared to Raena's side, a gun pointed right at her head, and a troll stepped to her left.

"Where's my brother, witch?!"

There was nothing but pain in her chest and ringing in her ears. Raena fought to focus her gaze, but she couldn't keep her head steady. She grabbed Gretel's wrist with her bloodied left hand, coughing up a thick, black blood. The three around her furrowed their brows in confusion as she tried to muster a few words.

"Please… Leave…" She couldn't lose consciousness, at least not around them. If she did then they would all day.

Gretel let out a frustrated growl before landing a few hard punches to Raena's gut and face. She then grabbed her by the throat again and forced her hand into the witch's windpipe.

"Where is he?! I won't ask again."

The gun to her left was cocked, and Raena glanced over at the boy through fluttering eyes. "P-p-please…" She could feel the darkness taking over, consuming her entire being.

With another growl Gretel pulled out a dagger, preparing to drive it directly into Raena's throat. But just as she lunged it forward, another hand grabbed her wrist, twisting it back before she was shoved completely away.

Raena gasped as the boy was also pushed away, and the troll took a step back. She collapsed to the ground, coughing up more of the black blood as she tried to crawl away. Everything was fuzzy now, and she could feel the claws from within her chest, trying to come out. She heard muffled voices shouting but couldn't make out the words. She had to get away. Once she was a few feet from the others, she raised her trembling right hand and a fluid motion cracked all five fingers at once.

* * *

"Are you insane, Gretel?!"

"What?!" Dark brown eyes narrowed as she shoved Hansel back. "Am _I_ insane? Are _you_?! You just let that witch go!"

"She isn't a dark witch!" He turned to the place that Raena had just been, placing a hand over his left side. It was almost completely healed thanks to her, but it was still a little sore. He wracked his brain for an idea as to how she disappeared without a trace. "She saved me, okay? She could have left me here to die, but she didn't."

Gretel scoffed. "You didn't see her! She was glowing. Fucking glowing! How many witches do we know that glow, Hansel?" He shrugged, shaking his head. "Exactly. None. She was levitating right over there and glowing this weird dark gray color."

Ben nodded. "I saw her, too. That's why I shot her, I wasn't sure what kind of witch she was. And we were looking for you, we thought maybe she'd been in league with the others.

"Well," he locked eyes with the younger boy, "she wasn't. Okay? And what did you shoot her with? She was spitting out black shit."

"Nothing! I mean, the normal stuff. It wasn't anything special."

The three looked over at Edward.

"You have any idea what she was?" Gretel's voice was softer, but still stern.

"No." He grunted. "Only stories… Of similar… Never met."

Hansel growled before kicking at a rock on the ground. "I know where her hut is, we can start there."

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Okay, so that's it for the first chapter. If you hang in there and go to chapter 2 I promise you will learn more about Raena! She's only extremely mysterious for the first chapter. Every chapter after this you'll learn more and more about her! Drop a review as well so I know what to do better and how you liked it! ^.^


	2. Chapter 2

Okie dokie, chapter 2! I've had today off so I've spent the past few hours writing these first couple of chapters! I'm not so great at describing fight scenes, but I'll try! Please leave a review after you've read!

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Raena awoke with a gasp, sitting up quickly and looking around. She was somewhere in another part of the woods surrounded by blackened grass, shriveled bushes, fallen flowers… Death. The very life-force sucked out of every living earthly organism that lie within twenty feet of her. Running a hand over her bodice, she looked down, the hole in her chest was gone, all that remained was a light pink circular mark that would soon fade as well. Her head felt as if it were splitting, and her focus was still a bit blurry. But none of that mattered. The only thing she had to do now was disappear, and fast.

She stood on shaky legs and stumbled off to the East. They were miles from another village, but she had to get as far away as possible. There was no need to return to her home, she had the only thing of import secured away in a satchel attached to her waist. It was the size of a coin purse on the outside, but on the inside it was a never-ending pit. She had enchanted it long ago so that if she ever needed to make a quick getaway then she'd be all packed.

Hours passed and darkness fell before Raena felt safe enough to make camp. She'd stayed off of the main road, following closely enough so she wouldn't get lost, but far enough away that none who traveled on the road would see or hear her. Deep into the woods off of the path a mile or two outside of an unfamiliar town she set up her small camp for the night. After she'd cleaned herself up a bit and eaten a small meal, Raena sat staring into the flames of the fire in front of her.

She questioned how she could have been so foolish as to get involved with Hansel and Gretel. She knew that she should have left that man there to die. Should have continued on her way and not bothered with him at all. She just hoped that using that small bit of magic to escape hadn't given her away completely.

As the fire dwindled and she was mid-way done with braiding her waist-length brown locks, she heard a loud crackle from within the fire, and black flames erupted from the charred wood remains. The flames turned to a deep crimson before a familiar face appeared in the flames.

"Raena… Darling…"

"Delona, I don't remember calling to you."

"Tsk tsk, is that anyway to greet me after all of these years?" She smiled sweetly, batting her black eyelashes.

Narrowing her eyes and not bothering to force a smile, she finished her braid and then dusted her skirts off. "You're not welcome here." She saw the smile falter, but didn't budge.

"Raena… Don't be silly." Her voice darkened. "You look awful, you need me."

"I need you as much as a goat farmer needs a catapult." She locked her eyes with the black ones of the dark witch within the flames.

"You cannot run from this Rae. I felt it. I know you used your powers. You cannot fight it forever. Let me come to you, let me teach you how-"

Raena stood, fists at her side as she clenched her jaw. "I said, you are _not_ welcome here!" She snapped her fingers, and the fire went out with a thick cloud of smoke. Her breath caught in her throat as she felt the panic set in. She was running out of time.

A few hours after dawn broke the next morning, Raena was in pale blue skirts and a deep blue bodice, her gray cape secured over her shoulders as she entered the village that she had camped outside of. The markets were opened up and she felt at ease as children and villagers bustled around her without noticing her. Come noon she found herself stopping at the fruit stands to check out the wares.

Cupping a peach in both hands, she raised it to her nose and took in a deep breath, reveling in the strong, fresh peach scent. "I'll take just one, please." She handed the farmer across the stand a silver piece and smiled her thanks to him.

"Peaches, huh?"

Raena jumped, looking to her right and finding herself face to face with Hansel. She clenched her jaw before turning her back to him and heading down the street. She heard his footsteps just behind her, and she shook her head with a growl.

"It would be best if you just came with me-"

Raena turned swiftly on her heel, causing Hansel to stop suddenly and eye her in surprise.

"Leave me be. You have already caused me more trouble than you can understand, and it would be best if you just left me alone."

He scoffed and ran a hand through his hair before placing both hands at his hips. "I don't think you get it, I'm not asking. You can come with me and answer a few questions, or my sister will persuade you herself."

"Oh?" Shifting her weight to one leg, she lowered her voice. "Perhaps you don't understand. I cannot stay here, I'm passing through. I need to leave, and get as far away from here, and you, as possible."

"Look, I get it, you're upset that Ben shot you and Gretel tried to stab you, but-"

"Hansel!" Raena growled in frustration as she bit the inside of her lower lip. "You have no idea what you are getting into. Take your sister, and your friends, and go. There are dark witches out there that need hunted. There is nothing more I can do for any of you." She turned to walk away, but he grabbed her by the arm and pulled her back. Locking her gaze with his, she tugged at her arm.

"Why-"

"You are endangering every person in this village right now." Her voice was barely above a harsh whisper as she struggled against his grip. "Please…"

Hansel recognized that fear in her eyes, it was the same fear that he had seen when he'd spoken to her at her home. But if she knew who he was, then she had to know that he wouldn't hurt a white witch.

"Being difficult again?" Gretel sneered as she turned the corner and saw the witch struggling. "Just come quietly." She rested her crossbow lazily over her shoulder. "We won't hurt you. And Ben won't shoot you again."

Ben nodded fervently, a sheepish smile on his face as he patted the gun holstered at his hip.

"And your troll?" Raena glanced at the other woman.

"Ed doesn't come into the villages. Scares the peasants. He's waiting for us just outside of the gates."

Raena gave Hansel one last pleading look. "I'm begging you… Let me go…"

He paused for a few seconds, something in her eyes didn't seem right. "You have my word, you won't be harmed." That said he pulled her toward Gretel, who turned and headed back down the alley that she'd just come from with Ben in tow.

Raena sighed, closing her eyes and thrusting her open palm into Hansel's chest. Ripped away from her, he was thrown into the wall of the alley. Before Gretel or their boy servant could react, she thrust both hands towards them, a blast of warm air knocking the two of them clear to the other end of the alley. None would be hurt by it, but it gave her a head start. She picked up the front of her skirts and started into a run in the opposite direction.

Weaving in and out of the tight alleys would have been difficult for a mortal, but Raena maneuvered them as if she had lived in that village her entire life, and avoided all of Ben's bullets and Gretel's crossbow arrows at the same time. No time to look over her shoulders she just ran as fast as she could, not stopping as she whipped past the guards at the south gate and headed off of the main road. If she could get far enough away from the village then she might be able to spare most of their lives.

Just as she reached the top of a farmer's hill, Raena glanced back over her shoulder, grinning as she saw her three pursuers were falling behind on the hill. And as she let out a victorious chort, she ran full-force into something that felt a lot like a solid stone wall. Landing flat on her back, Raena gasped as she looked up to see their troll standing tall above her and grunting.

"Good work, Ed!" Gretel couldn't help but laugh as she and her brother came over the top of the hill a few seconds later. She gave the giant a pat on the arm as Hansel lifted the witch from the ground. Just as she found her footing, Gretel send a fist across her cheek, knocking her right back to the ground.

"Gretel that's enough!" Hansel stepped between his sister and Raena and held his hand up to stop Gretel from moving any closer.

"Oh, come on! After what she did in the alley?!"

The taste of blood in her mouth as she rolled from her stomach to her back, Raena let out a deep, nervous laugh as she glanced down at the bloodied dirt beneath her. One drop would have been all it took, and there were a few down there, mixing into the dirt and soaking the earth. "You fucking idiot." She propped herself up on her elbows and licked at the cut on her lip which was bleeding profusely. "Silver knuckles and aconite coating?" She nodded at Gretel's smirk. "Ensures I bleed, nice." As Hansel bent down to offer her help, Raena smacked his hand away, turning from him as she managed to stand and dust herself off. "You've just killed yourselves."

Gretel scoffed as she watched the brunette fix her bundled skirts and toss her brunette mane behind her. "You going to show us your ugly face and curse us with your pathetic wand?! I'm a white witch too, bitch!"

Raena furrowed her brow as she tried to catch her breath, holding a hand to her lip and shaking her head. "I'm not a white witch." Silence fell between the four as Gretel raised a brow at her brother, and he turned to Raena in surprise.

"But, you said-"

"I said I don't take life, I never said I was a white witch."

"Ha!" Gretel threw an accusing finger at the other woman. "So you _are_ a dark witch!"

"No! Merlin, you are all idiots!" She turned just as Ben came stumbling over the top of the hill, bending over with his rifle over his shoulder and his free hand on his knee as he strained to catch his breath. Raena gestured to him and motioned towards the village. "Run back there and tell them to evacuate the village." He didn't move, staring at her in disbelief.

Gretel moved to run at her, but Hansel grabbed his sister and held her in place. "Don't order him about, who do you think you are?"

She turned her golden gaze to the witch hunter. "I'm trying to save them. You don't understand what you've done."

"Then tell us, not-white-witch, what have I done?"

Her sarcastic tone and poison-dipped words didn't phase Raena. She could already feel the air turning hot and stale. Steam began to rise from the ground, and she looked up at the sky as dark clouds consumed the sun.

"You've just summoned Delona."

Hansel released his sister as they and their two companions looked up towards the now black sky. "And… Um, who's Delona?"

There was no time to answer as lightening cracked across the sky, and a dark laugh erupted from behind the troll. Hansel, Gretel, and Ben all drew their weapons as Edward stepped aside and turned.

"Me!" The fiery-haired, pale-skinned woman giggled as she licked her upper lip and waved flirtatiously at the group before her.

"Leave them be, Delona." Raena, finally having caught her breath, walked past the two witch hunters and locked eyes with the woman. "Just let them all go."

"And skip the fun? You know I can't do that. Besides," she pouted, "as soon as I let them go you'll disappear on me again. You know I hate that."

Hansel stepped up beside Raena, his gun fixated on the red-haired woman. "Friend of yours?"

"Friend? Oh no…" Delona giggled again, twisting a strand of her hair around her finger. "We're sisters. And as such, I say we have some fun with the witch hunters."

Clenching her fists at her sides, Raena growled. "I'm not interested in your games."

A gunshot rang out, and all eyes turned to Ben, a small puff of smoke wafting in front of the barrel of his rifle.

Eyes widened, Raena turned to her sister to see her holding the silver bullet fixed between her thumb and index finger. "It seems he'd like to play." Delona's eyes faded from green to black, the darkness taking over not only her iris, but the whites of her eyes as well as she released the bullet into the air, it floated just above the palm of her hand and spun slowly. "Who's first?"

"Delona, don't!" Raena felt the air around Gretel shift as she fired her crossbow, followed by Hansel firing his gun. Delona waved off the arrow and caught the second bullet in her free hand.

"Come now, sister, you can't save everyone." She held up the second bullet the same as she did the first, licking her upper lip as she looked between the four who were not Raena. "Am I to choose for you then? Eh?" She straightened out her fingers and the bullets were shot back at them.

Raena stretched her right arm to her left before swinging and thrusting it to the right. The bullets met an invisible wall a few inches from Hansel and Gretel's faces, falling to the ground in red-hot crumbled messes as the barriers shattered like water and wet the earth beneath their feet. The two looked at each other, and then Raena, before turning their attention back to the red-haired witch.

"Do not make me do this!" Raena's voice was harsh, but she was begging.

Delona clapped giddily as she pointed to the troll without taking her eyes off of her sister. "You…" With the same hand she flicked her wrist, and Edward was sent flying across the freshly-plowed field, crashing hard into the ground a hundred yards away.

Hansel and Gretel dropped their gun and cross bow and ran at the dark witch, their weapons of choice not scathing the woman once as she fought them off easily.

Raena cringed at every hit that the two of them took, but she had to keep her hands closed in tight fists at her side. She couldn't risk it. Not after all this time. She just couldn't.

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I promise there's more in chapter 3!


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything **Hansel and Gretel** , just my original characters!

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Hansel landed hard on the ground for the umpteenth time, groaning as he rolled onto his back in pain. Gretel wasn't much better off, and Edward hadn't been able to get up off the ground yet. Raena watched helplessly as Ben emptied every bullet he had, and Delona just waved them all off as if they were pesky gnats.

"Raena, I'm waiting…" Delona sneered, her eyes fixing on Ben as a last resort. When she received yet another shake of the head from her sister, she sighed. "Fine, so be it." She moved faster than the blink of an eye, her hand at Ben's throat as she hoisted him up into the air.

His weapon fell to the ground, and his eyes bulged as he grabbed at the witch's hand.

"Delona, stop this."

The air began to swirl around them as Delona raised the boy higher. "How long until he suffocates, sister? Aren't you the one who said we have a duty to save them?"

Raena felt that familiar clawing in her chest as her anger rose and she tossed off her cape as she took a few steps forward.

Raising a brow, Delona flattened the palm of her free hand towards the ground, twisting it upwards as she raised her hand. Just as Hansel and Gretel scurried to stand up in an attempt to save their friend, a handful of humanoid-like creatures with decaying skin broke the surface of the ground and ensnared the two in a hand-to-hand battle.

Their shouts as they struggled to defeat the ghouls rang in Rae's ears, and she watched as Ben's face turned a dark shade of red.

Her chest twanged, and her honey-colored eyes flashed, white overtaking them completely. She felt the magic coursing through her veins, hands tingling as she raised both of her hands palm-up towards her sides. Her already pale skin turned a porcelain-white as she formed a blue fire within her palms.

"There she is…" Delona's voice echoed in the howling wind that was spiraling around them all.

Raena's head went back slightly as she felt her feet leave the ground, and the fingers of her right hand closed into a fist before she flexed them open again. The ghouls went up into immediate flames, blue white-hot heat engulfing them as they melted down into puddles of black organs and jelly-like fluids.

Hansel and Gretel both turned their attention to the two sisters, Gretel holding a hand up to shield her eyes from the wind as they took a few steps forward and watched.

Left hand folding into a fist just like the right hand, Raena paused to give Delona one last chance. What seemed like hours was a mere few seconds before she flexed her fingers open and the same blue flame that had engulfed the ghouls overtook Delona's entire being.

As the flames ate away at her clothing, the dark witch let out a maniacal laugh before lightning struck above her, and she was gone.

Ben fell to the ground, gasping as the winds died down almost instantly. The twins ran to the boy, ensuring that he would be okay. Only after he assured them with his nods and coughs did Hansel stand and turn to Raena.

She slowly lowered back towards the ground; her feet stopped just a few inches from the earth beneath her.

"Raena?" He began to approach her slowly, her eyes were still white, her skin looked like white glass, and a black discoloration began to creep through the veins in her neck and up the sides of her face.

"Hansel! Get away from her!" Gretel helped Ben to stand, holding him tightly as she watched her brother in fear.

Ignoring his sister, he didn't stop until he was right in front of the other woman. "Raena… It's over." He felt like he was screaming but he was actually whispering so quietly that he wasn't sure if she'd even heard him. She didn't seem to respond to him. Holding his breath, Hansel reached towards her.

Her right hand shot out, grabbing hold of the back of his neck and pulling him towards her. He stared into the blank whites of her eyes as he grabbed her wrist with one hand, putting his other out behind him to stop Gretel from doing anything. No words came to mind as Raena's face got closer and closer to his. The black vein on the right side of her face crept towards that eye, and he saw as black began to swirl at the corner of it.

"Raena?"

Her grip on him tightened as she hissed loudly, and her right eye started to turn black from the corner.

Hansel took a deep breath and brought his free hand up, caressing her left cheek gently, and slowly. "It's over…"

Right eye twitching, Raena tilted her head slightly, leaning into the warmth of his hand. As her grip loosened, her head twitched a few times, and she suddenly fell from her levitation. Hansel caught her and sank to the ground with her in his arms as she began to convulse.

"Hey! Hey! Gretel, help me!" He held Raena's small frame as his sister ran up to his side, but there was nothing either of them could do.

And just as quickly as it had started, it stopped, ending with Raena's body going limp and her head falling into Hansel's chest. He lifted her head up, watching as the black dissipated from her eye, then from her veins, and her skin slowly faded back to its normal color.

"Is she- is she dead?" Gretel's voice held both fear and concern.

"I don't know," Hansel shrugged before gently lowering Raena's body to lay flat on the ground.

Gretel knelt and pressed her ear to Raena's chest, her face contorting as she struggled to find a heartbeat. "I can't tell. I don't think she's breathing." She sat back, looking at Hansel's distressed face. "Hansel…" She reached across the body to him, but he shook her off.

"We should leave. Go get Edward." He stood lifting Raena into his arms and heading towards their fallen giant friend.

* * *

Raena could hear voices nearby, muffled and low. She couldn't make out their exact words as she groggily opened her eyes. Blinking slowly a few times, she looked around, her entire body was sore, and her chest felt like she'd been hit with a ton of bricks. She was in a rickety bed that creaked as she turned onto her side, painfully sliding her legs over the edge. Recognizing the voices, Raena sighed.

It took her a few minutes to get her footing and make her way to the door of the room that she was in, but as she pulled the door open and the four in the main living quarters turned to her, she raised a brow.

"Explanations are in order, I assume?" She received no verbal response, just shock from Hansel and Gretel, fainting from Ben, and the usual grunt from Edward. "Before we get to the interrogations that you're both infamous for, perhaps you would be kind enough to provide me with something to drink." She wavered slightly in the doorway, a sharp pain in her chest.

Hansel pushed his chair out and stood quickly, rushing over to her and wrapping an arm around her waist. "How are you alive? We watched you die."

Raena shook her head, gladly taking his help as she wrapped her arm around his shoulders and allowed him to guide her to the table where Gretel had sat. She had stood and walked to the other side of the room before returning with a flask and a cup.

"That's not what you saw, although I can understand why you all would have thought that." She was lowered onto the bench that Ben had fainted off of, and she poured whatever liquid was in that flask into her cup, swiftly and loudly chugging it. She repeated this a few times before her throat was no longer scratchy. "Is no one going to wake the boy?"

Gretel shook her head as she sat across the table beside Edward, and Hansel took his seat to Raena's right. "He does that, sometimes. He'll be fine. Back up any minute now."

And just like that, Ben sat up quickly, hair askew and eyes wild as he climbed to his feet and pointed at Raena.

"Y-y-y-ou! You were dead! And now you're not! And you were floating, and weird…" He paused to look between the others. "What happened? Did I miss something?"

Shaking her head with a chuckle, Raena patted the seat beside her. "Sit down, kid." He did as he was told, focusing back on her. "Look." Raena looked from Gretel to Hansel. "I warned you, I told you to leave me be. And now… Now I have to try to disappear again, and you all should do the same."

Gretel scoffed. "Disappear? No way. We have no idea what kind of witch you are, and after what we saw out there, not going to happen."

"Fine. Where do you want to start?"

"You're not a dark a witch?" Raena shook her head, and Gretel continued. "You're not a white witch?" Another shake of the head.

"But, you are a witch?" Ben's voice cracked as he scooted back on the bench away from their guest.

"Shut up, Ben!" Hansel and Gretel shouted in unison.

Raena chuckled again, and nodded. "We've established that I am, in fact, a witch. However I am neither a dark or white witch."

"That's not possible. Gretel and I have been hunting witches our entire lives and we've never come across a witch that wasn't one or the other. Hell Gretel is a white witch!"

"It's more complicated than that." Shrugging, Raena turned her focus onto the cup in her hands. "Delona and I are twins and she practices dark magic, but I refused to. Our mother…" There was no easy way to go about telling them these things without them wanting to kill her even more than they already do. "Our mother was one of four daughters born to Morgana." Looking over at the shock on Hansel's face, she knew there was no going back.

"Morgana the mother of all modern day witches?" Ben folded and his head hit the table hard. "We're dead."

"Yes, that Morgana. As it was, she raised all of her daughters in the dark arts, but our mother had a soft spot for mortals. She couldn't stand the thought of taking a life. After Morgana was killed, the sisters went on about their lives. My mother disappeared and had nothing more to do with them. That is until centuries later when one of my aunts reached out to her and asked for her help to resurrect their mother. They wanted to bring her back and unleash death upon the world."

Gretel didn't seem convinced. She leaned on the table and tsked Raena. "I've never heard of any witches attempting a resurrection of Morgana."

Their eyes locked with one another. "You wouldn't have," Raena began, "because my mother stopped them. There were two parts to the ceremony, first was her soul, and second was binding it with her body. A soul can only be resurrected on the second week of a winter solstice and-" She stopped. "Those details are unimportant. What is important is that they had to resurrect her soul within a certain amount of time, even if they didn't have her body. And since her body had been chopped up and scattered across kingdoms, they planned to bind it with a different body until they could get hers back. To stop them, my mother interrupted the ceremony and split Morgana's soul into two."

"What did she do with the two halves?"

Raena glanced over at Hansel before she dropped her gaze in shame. "She bound one half to my sister, and one half to me."

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Yikes! Okay, so, before anyone says anything, the Morgana in my story is loosely based off of Morgan Le Fay from the old Merlin and King Arthur tales. Loosely! I had an idea, and I ran with it. So, I don't want anyone to be upset when my references don't follow to the original stories about Morgana. It's just me putting a spin on things! ^.^ Hope you enjoyed! Next chapter soon!


	4. Chapter 4

So sorry it took so long! Life got a little crazy... Here's the next chapter, and I hope you guys like it! Please drop a review after you read it to let me know how it's going! ^.^

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The gasps that Raena received from the others were to be expected, but she still didn't like it. She could feel their energy: fear, disdain, hate. All things she'd tried to avoid her entire life.

Hansel broke the silence first. "How did Delona become a dark witch and you didn't?"

"The same way my mother didn't while all of her sisters did, I suppose. Mother raised us to respect life, and encouraged us to always protect it at whatever cost. But Delona grew curious, she began to dabble in the dark practices a bit. I cast a few dark spells here or there in my younger years, but I felt _it_ deep within and knew that I had to stop."

"Felt _what_?" Gretel, still skeptical of the entire story, was getting curious.

"I felt Morgana, locked away within me. Any time I cast magic she's a part of it. For small spells it isn't hard, but I avoid them in general."

Ed grunted in disapproval.

Ben scratched the top of his head. "How does a witch not perform magic?"

"Potions, tonics, the like. I can count the number of times I've actually used magic and cast spells. That's why Hansel took longer to heal when I saved him." She met his icy gaze again. "I don't use magic unless absolutely necessary. Delona can track me if I do."

"And your extra soul?"

Turning back to Gretel, Raena continued. "Every time I cast magic of any sort it draws from my soul, and Morgana's. It's not just my magic, it's hers as well. Delona was consumed by the power that she gained from living with both souls as one. That's why she's so strong. If you didn't notice: she didn't use a wand, and none of your weapons could touch her. She can also summon beasts from the underworld."

"But Ben shot you, it went all the way through. And nearly killed you."

"Yeah," she shifted uncomfortably, "Ben certainly took me by surprise if I had seen him coming that would have gone differently. But what's more: my heart isn't on the left side, like yours are." She placed her hand over the right side of her chest. "It's on the right, as was Morgana's. So that little tickle that I received from Benny, it would have killed me if I didn't have the soul of the darkest witch residing in me. She won't allow me to die. And if I do come close and fall unconscious, Morgana will overpower my body and draw the life from any living being near enough my body."

Hansel leaned back in his chair, arms crossed over his chest. "That's why when we tracked you we found a portion of the woods dead…"

"And in a perfect circle? That was me. That's why I had to get away from you all, she could have killed you. But I hadn't used that much magic… Ever, and it woke Delona. We can sense each other's magic. I'm all but numb to hers at this point in our lives, but I assume if I use mine it's like a hard knock in the gut to her."

When Edward spoke the whole cabin nearly rumbled. "How find us… In field…"

"My blood. Thanks to Gretel's friendly jab to face. Delona deals in blood magic as well. She can track beings if a single drop of their blood mixes with the earth."

Gretel smacked the table hard. "I don't believe you! You were bleeding after Ben shot you. She didn't find you then?"

There was a subconscious itch on her right chest that Raena casually reached up to scratch as she retorted. "Blood? Or black tar-like substance?" She watched as Gretel's dark eyes shifted. "What you saw was not my blood. It was my life-force, darkened by my parasitic dead grandmother's soul that needs me alive so that she doesn't die as well. I do bleed like any other beast out there, but if mortally wounded, that's what comes out. Delona, too. Although I can't imagine she's been mortally wounded many times."

There were a few moments of silence as Gretel slowly began to pace back and forth across the room, one hand crossed over her chest as her other toyed with something between her fingers.

"Okay," she started, "what now?"

Raena furrowed her brow in confusion. "I don't understand what you're asking?"

Letting out a growl, the female witch hunter rolled her eyes. "What is Delona planning to do now?"

"I assume she's planning on attempting to resurrect Morgana's soul." She could tell from the confused looks on the other four's faces that they weren't following. "Morgana's soul wasn't successfully resurrected. My mother interrupted the ceremony and instead split the soul. It cannot be bound to a physical body until it is whole again. That's why Delona and myself are still in full control of our own bodies: Morgana's soul isn't strong enough to take complete control yet."

"So," Hansel started as he tapped his foot on the ground, "she needs your half of the soul?"

"And my cooperation. However I don't intend on giving her either. So truthfully what she needs it a way to force me to unleash my half of the soul. There is a way, but Delona would rather that I join her cause as opposed to ripping Morgana's soul from my body and then killing me." She looked between the other four. "If I don't cooperate, then she will have to find a way to release Morgana's soul from mine, but in doing so she will most likely kill me. I do remember overhearing my mother in council with another white witch speaking of a way to kill just her soul, but the risk of destroying the hosts body was far too great to try on her own daughters."

Gretel growled in irritation. "But there is a way, which means that we may be able to force her half of Morgana's soul out then we can destroy it."

Raena shook her head. "No, it's too risky. And even if we knew exactly how to do it we would have to perform the ritual on the sixth night of the summer solstice's blue moon. That is only a few weeks away." She stood, brushing her skirts off. "We don't have the time. I don't even know what I would need or how to perform the ritual."

"Isn't there some dark witch book stashed away somewhere that you could work your magic on?"

Clenching her jaw Raena glared at Gretel. "I'm not a dark witch, I don't have access to anything like that."

"But you could?" Ben raised his brow. "Since you were technically born to a family of dark witches, and you have Morgana's soul in you… Surely you could trick a real dark witch into giving you information or even a spell book?"

Ed grunted in approval, and Raena looked over at Hansel to gauge his reaction. He shrugged, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms nonchalantly.

"It could work," he started, "with all of us working in unison I think we could pull it off."

"I can't kill my sister." Shaking her head Raena crossed her hands over her stomach as a sickening feeling began to churn in her gut.

"We aren't asking you to kill your sister." Gretel smirked. "Unless, of course, she tries to fight us."

Raena turned on her heel and stumbled out of the cottage, taking in deep gasps of fresh air. She turned her head to the canopy of trees above her, listening intently to the sounds of the forest. Footsteps sounded behind her, and she glanced over her shoulder to see Hansel stepping outside and closing the door behind him.

"If there's any way to save your sister, we will do what we can-"

"She's too far gone… that's what Gretel thinks isn't it?" She watched his face for a moment before she turned her face back to the sun seeping in from the trees above. "She would kill us both without hesitation and you know it."

"That's not true." He made his way around her, stopping in front of her and taking her face in his hands. "Raena…" He tilted her head gently and locked eyes with her. "I know you're not evil, okay? Gretel won't lay a hand on you I can promise you that."

She swatted his hands away and pushed him back a step. "Don't make promises that you cannot keep! You've seen it, the blackness that crawls under my skin and turns me into her. None of you realize what it is that you're asking! If I have to battle Delona, there is a chance that Morgana will take over and I cannot stop her. She is too strong."

"I've seen it, but I've also seen you stop her." He saw the confusion on her face and he took the moment to step closer to her. "She could have killed me but you reacted to my touch, you stopped her before she could have harmed any of us."

Raena eyes narrowed. "What are you talking about?"

Hansel faltered for a few seconds. "After your fight with Delona when you were… turning black. I approached you and you grabbed me. Well, _she_ grabbed me as if she were going to suck the life out of me or something. But," he reached up and caressed her cheek, "you stopped her. I saw you there behind the black pooling in your eye. You wouldn't have let her hurt me."

Raena felt the familiar warmth of his hand, calm washing over her as she leaned into it. She recalled that same feeling, and as she closed her eyes she could hear him speaking to her, reassuring her that it was over. With a gasp she stepped back and brushed his hand away as she eyed him suspiciously. Not necessarily suspicious of him, but curious as to why he had such an effect on her.

"I can't help you, I need to get as far away from this place as possible so that Delona cannot find me again." She turned but Hansel grabbed her arm and held her in place with her back to him.

"I need you! I mean _we_ need you. We can't do this without you and you know that. You're stronger than you think and with Gretel's help we have a real chance to defeat Delona for good. You can't keep running your entire life." He released her, the two of them standing in silence.

Raena stared at the ground ahead of her, unable to look back at him. The cottage door opened and Gretel appeared, hands at her hips and a brow raised.

"What's it to be then?"

Blowing a stray strand of hair from her face Raena rolled her eyes. "I don't really have a choice, do I?" She earned a grin from Gretel. "You'll have to track down a dark witch, one who is older and more renowned. A young one isn't likely to be in possession of a Neier DeTome." As she walked past Gretel into the cottage, she caught the look of confusion on the other woman's face. "A dark spell book… You've been hunting witches how long and you've never heard of one?" She pushed past the girl and reentered the cottage.

Hansel raised a brow at his sister who stood currently gritting her teeth. "You have to admit she does keep you on your toes." As he walked to the door and made to pass his sister, she grabbed his arm and locked eyes with him.

"She isn't Mina. You need to be careful."

Pulling his arm from her grasp Hansel lowered his voice. "And you aren't my mother." With that said he brushed past her into the cottage to rejoin the others.

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Well I hope that was okay! Next chapter will be posted soon!


	5. Chapter 5

Told you there'd be another chapter soon! Thanks so much for reading, I really hope you enjoy! Another will be up soon...

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Raena wasn't sure if the others realized just how much would go into their plan to destroy Morgana's soul. They not only had a time limit of a few weeks, but they had to track down and capture a renowned dark witch that may or may not be in possession of a Neier DeTome, find said spell book, then they had to find the correct spell and gather any and all ingredients that were listed. Plus the length of time it would take to prepare for the ritual, and then there was preparing for a physical battle because Delona was sure to have gathered a nuber of dark witches that supported her cause…

Raena sat quietly at the table in front of the fireplace in their small cabin, studying through some of her mother's old journals. The others were supposed to be out searching for a dark witch, but she'd thought it best to remain in doors so as not to use her powers again. It was barely midday, and she had been alone for but a couple of hours before the cottage door swung open and Gretel entered with two limp rabbits slung over her shoulder.

"Oh good, you're alone."

Raena furrowed her brow as the dark-haired woman closed the door and made her way to the counter. "Why wouldn't I be?"

Gretel shrugged as she lazily slung the rabbit carcasses down before cleaning off her hands. "I'd thought perhaps Hansel would have returned to be by your side."

With a scoff, Raena nodded. "I'm sure you must be deathly terrified that I plan on seducing your brother and eating his soul, but I can assure you that I've no interest in him."

"I'm not concerned with your interest in him you idiot. I'm concerned with his interest in you." She took the seat across from Raena, locking eyes with her.

Raena gently closed the journal in front of her and folded her hands on the table. "Well I'm not interested in your nonsense. We have more important things to be focused on right now."

Gretel slammed her hand down on top of the journal as Raena had attempted to slide it off the table to remove herself from the room. "He fell in love with a white witch once before. Mina. She was the first of her kind that we had ever encountered."

Jaw clenched, Raena shifted in her seat and released her mother's journal, folding her hands in her lap as she eyed Gretel.

"She was beautiful, possibly the most beautiful woman I'd ever seen. No doubt Hansel would agree." Gretel paused only long enough to gauge Raena's reactions. "Do you want to know what happened to her?"

"She ran away because she couldn't stand to be around his psychotic sister?"

Gretel chuckled as she leaned back in her chair. "She died, sacrificed herself to save Hansel's life. Have you any idea the weight that he carries from that?"

Raena nodded as she dropped her eyes for a moment. "I do."

"Then I suggest you make it known to him that you've no interest in him, or else he's sure to be just as broken when you die."

Honey-brown eyes flickered as Raena looked across the table at Gretel. "You don't think I can defeat her, do you?"

Shaking her head Gretel laughed. "You can barely control your own magic, I'm not stupid enough to think that you will be able to control Morgana's as well. My brother sees something in you that, frankly, I don't think is really there. We need your knowledge, yes, but I've seen you struggle with Morgana and you just aren't strong enough. And I will not watch Hansel fall for you just to be destroyed when you fall to your sister's power."

Raena nodded as she ignored the sting of Gretel's words. "I appreciate your willingness to protect your brother, however I should remind you that he is a grown man. Who he chooses to fall in love with is none of your concern-"

"It is when I know she's just going to break him."

"I've no interest in harming him!" Raena stood, palms slamming down hard on the table. "Don't you think that if I wanted to hurt any of you then I would have at any point within the past few days?! I saved his life! I could have left him there to die in that field but I didn't because that's not who I am. I could have killed all of you when Ben had shot me, but I didn't. I disappeared to find a place that was uninhabited so that I wouldn't hurt anyone. Are you really that full of anger and hatred that you must assume because I am not a white witch that I have some sinister plot to destroy you and your brother?!"

Gretel, taken aback by the outburst, stared at the brunette woman in shock while her free hand slid to the hilt of the dagger sheathed around her thigh. "I know only what I've experienced and-"

"Then you, madam, are seriously lacking in experience! Not every magical person is either good or evil. Some of us just want to live ordinary lives without being burdened with your quarrels. I've agreed to help because I'm aware that I am the only person who can get close enough to Delona to do anything. I've agreed because Hansel asked me to, and regardless of what you say or think about _me_ , he is a good man and his heart isn't completely consumed with hate like yours. He shows kindness and puts his trust in people as they deserve. He is everything that a man should be!" Raena shook her head as she let out an aggravated sigh.

"I do not have to prove myself to you," she continued, "as I have already done so more than once. And if your brother does happen to take interest in me, you can rest assured that I will turn him away swiftly, for I would rather be dead than stuck with _you_ for the rest of my life. Excuse me." Raena grabbed the journal from the table and stormed from the cottage, unaware of her destination but fully aware that she couldn't be in there with Gretel any longer or they might kill each other.

Gretel sat in silence at the table as the witch's words set in. What seemed like hours later Hansel, Ben, and Edward returned. Hansel of course noticed Raena's absence, but Gretel convinced him to take a walk with her.

* * *

They stepped out of the cottage and started down the path leading to the main road, eerily quiet compared to their normal banter.

"Gretel?" Hansel raised a brow as they walked side by side. "What is it? You're unusually quiet.

"I was thinking about what we do for our living. Would you do this for forever?"

He laughed as he folded his hands behind his head. "What else would we do?"

"Settle down, start families, become farmers?" She stopped as he laughed again. He stopped a few feet ahead of her and turned around to face her. "I'm serious Hansel. What are we to do when we're too old to be hunting witches?"

Hansel narrowed his eyes in suspicion. "We're far from retirement, Gretel. Why are you acting so strange?"

Gretel sighed, "Because I need to know that no matter how this whole plan turns out that I'll still have my brother. I could hunt without you but we're a team and I worry that someday soon I won't have you here to watch my back."

"Where would I go?!"

"I see the way you look at her, the way you chase after her even as she pushes you away. And the panic in your voice when we thought she was dead. You barely even know her and yet you act as though your world revolves around her."

It clicked, realization dawning on Hansel as he nodded. "You think I'm going to fall in love with Raena and abandon you, that's what this is about."

"With Mina it was different, she became a part of our team and she fell for you long before you fell for her. Raena is stubborn and she fights us at every turn-"

"She's terrified, Gretel! Wouldn't you be if you had half of Morgana's soul trapped inside of you trying to claw her way out?!"

"I don't want you to get hurt again, Hansel. We've had our fair share of entertainment throughout the years but it's different with her and I can tell. I just worry for you."

Hansel pulled his sister into a hug, roughing up her hair a bit before he released her. "Don't. I'll be fine. And at the end of the day we're still the best witch hunters in the world. You can count on me fighting them for at least another twenty years. I don't plan on dying any time soon."

Gretel punched him in the arm before straightening her hair with a smile. "She's feisty, you know? You're going to have to really work at it to crack her." She headed back to the cottage and gestured over her shoulder the direction that Raena had gone. "You can't say I didn't warn you."

* * *

Raena growled in frustration as she flipped through the worn leather journal in her hand. There was barely any mention of the soul splitting in it, instead it was filled mostly with stories of their days together when she and Delona were children. She snapped it closed and thrust it to the ground beside her. Resting with her legs folded beneath her in a tiny clearing, birds chirping in the trees around her and animals bustling through the bushes. Raena picked up the hem of her skirt, picking at it as she felt her anxiety rising.

"You're going to destroy the hem if you keep at that." Hansel smiled as Raena threw a glance over her shoulder at him. "We may be great at hunting witches but we don't know much about sewing hems. On dresses, at least." He sat down beside her, letting out a relaxed sigh as he lay back against the grass and stretched, his arms folded behind his head.

"What are you doing?" Raena eyed him sideways as she dropped her hands onto her lap.

"Resting, I thought that was obvious." A smirk tugged at the corner of his lips.

"Hansel, we have work to do. You should be back at the cottage, if not out there trying to find a dark witch."

He groaned and rolled to his side, propping himself up on one elbow while his free hand reached out and toyed with the hem of her skirt. "I've been searching all day, there's nothing in any of the nearby villages. I'll have to take Ben and Ed and go a few days travel to find something."

Raena eyed him before swatting his hand away from her skirt. "You should take Gretel with you. Ben can stay here and assist me."

Hansel picked up the hem again and ran the fabric between his index finger and thumb. "You and Gretel had a fight, didn't you?"

Distracted by his hand, Raena stuttered for a few seconds before she could answer. "She's a bitch. And she doesn't know how to keep her nose out of other peoples' business." She slapped his hand and tugged her skirt away from him, twisting her body and gathering her skirts in a bunch to pull them out of his reach. She noted the smile that he had, the glint in his eyes as he toyed with her.

"Why do you do that?"

"What?" She retorted harshly.

"Any time I get close to you, you slap my hands or push me away."

Raena let out a chort laugh. "I like my personal space. And you are exceedingly good at disturbing it."

Hansel sat up and leaned closer to her as his smile widened. "It really does bother you, doesn't it?"

"Of course it does." Raena unfolded her legs and readied to stand up, but Hansel grabbed her by the ankles and spun her to face him, tugging her across the ground and closer to him as he crawled between her legs and hovered above her. She caught herself on her elbows, leaning back as he inched towards her face. "H-Hansel…" Caught off guard by his forwardness Raena averted her gaze as he stopped a few inches from her lips.

"Am I scaring you?" His voice was genuine.

She shook her head as his breath tickled her lips. She could practically hear her pulse racing as her heart beat loudly in her chest.

Hansel watched her as she shifted nervously, her chest rising and falling rapidly. He leaned in to close the gap, lips barely touching before she turned her head away quickly.

"I'm sorry about Mina." Her voice escaped in an exasperated squeak. Raena could barely catch her breath as she finally met his gaze. He pulled back and stared at her in confusion. "You loved her, didn't you?" Her voice shook and she watched him stand, brushing himself off as his back stiffened.

Hansel nodded in response to her question as he forced a smile. "I did."

Raena pulled her knees up to her chest, draping her skirts over them as she watched him tear his gaze from her before making his way back towards the cottage. She took a few deep breaths in an attempt to calm herself, her free hand reaching up while her fingertips grazed her lips. She couldn't let him fall for her because she knew that Gretel was right: she wasn't strong enough to defeat both Delona and Morgana. And she didn't want to be the cause of his heartache. If she was to die, then she would make sure that he wouldn't be burdened by her death.

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Drop a review and let me know what you think?!

Special shout out to Ahsoka9613 for leaving a review on the last one! ^.^


	6. Chapter 6

I guess I'm on a roll right now, third one in two days, woot! Hope you enjoy!

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Raena returned to the cottage only after she had managed to calm herself down and convince herself that she was doing the right thing. As she entered she could smell the rabbits that Gretel was cooking over the fire.

"Dinner is almost ready."

Raena glanced at Hansel as he sat brooding at the table, and forced a light smile. "I'm actually not hungry, I'm going to look through some more of my mother's journals to see what I can find."

After she disappeared into her room, Gretel raised a brow at Hansel, noting that he was carving into the table with one of his blades.

"What happened?"

He shrugged as he glanced at Raena's door. "Nothing. She's not hungry."

Gretel narrowed her eyes but left it alone. Prodding Hansel often just got them into an argument and she had had enough of those today.

* * *

Days went by and the cottage was quiet. Hansel, Gretel, and Ben had gone out searching for a dark witch at a village a two days ride from their "home." Raena spent her days outside reading through journals and spell books that her mother had left behind, while Edward sat quietly nearby and picked at the flowers and grass. Trolls were simple minded, but he was sweet and she could tell that he was studying the things that he picked.

Nearly a week had passed since they had set on a plan and the others returned finally at dusk, Ben's face glowing in excitement as he pranced into the cottage shouting about their success.

"We did it! We found one! She was an ugly brute of a hag. Gnarly teeth and warts all over. She had to have been centuries old. She smelled of rot and piss."

Raena chuckled at him as Gretel entered and set a heavy sack on the table, unfolding it to reveal a dark red monstrosity of a book. Just as Ben went to open it, Raena grabbed his wrist and shook her head.

"Sorry darling, but you don't want to be doing that. I can promise there's some sort of spell that won't agree with you if you try to open it yourself."

"But…" Ben pouted, his face covered in dirt and soot with some dried blood here and there. "How will you open it?"

Gretel grinned as she roughly laid down her weapons on the table nearby. "She's got the darkest of witches living inside of her, I'd be surprised if the book didn't open for it all on its own."

Narrowing her eyes curiously Raena nodded, wondering why Gretel's tone towards her was less aggressive than normal.

Hansel came through the door, also covered in dirt and blood and Merlin knows what else. He barely glanced at Raena as he began to unload his own weapons next to Gretel.

"Good work everyone." Wrapping the book back up, Raena gave it a pat before she hoisted it up and headed outside.

"Where are you going?" Gretel called after her.

She stopped in the doorway and sent a smile over her shoulder. "I don't know what this thing is capable of, and I'd prefer not to test it in the presence of humans. I'll take it to a clearing until I know for certain that there aren't any protection spells that may backfire while you're all in the room.

"W-what if they backfire when it's just you?" Ben's eyes widened as he thought about what that book could potentially do.

Gretel glanced at Hansel, who caught her gaze momentarily before she stepped backwards out the door. "You know I can't die, yet. I'll be fine if anything goes wrong. As long as I'm alone and there's nobody else around the most harm that I can do is destroy a bit of forest." Giving Ben a wink she exited the home and made her way deeper into the woods.

For once there was no chirping of birds or rustling of animals. They could sense the dark magic that Raena was carrying, hell even she could feel it pulsating from their new possession. She found the largest clearing that she could a safe distance away from the cottage and set the book down, kneeling in front of it before she slowly unwrapped it.

It was bound in flesh but she couldn't be certain of what kind. Human, or some beast from the underworld perhaps. Either way she knew that this was not going to be easy…

By the time Raena had managed to open the book she'd come close to death at least three times. There was more than one protective spell on the item and she'd managed to set them off repeatedly. She walked for a good ten minutes before she finally came to a part of the forest that wasn't blackened from Morgana's sucking the life out of it. As she reentered the cottage with dirt and blood covering her skirts and bodice, Raena set the book down on the table roughly and looked around at the others earning wide-eyed stares from them all, save for Edward.

"I've cracked it. Didn't have a chance to really look through it but I think we'll be able to find something in here in no time." With a nod she went into her room to gather some fresh clothes before making her way back towards the door.

"Raena," Gretel raised a brow, "where are you going?"

She gestured towards the door. "Out. There's a spring nearby, I'm going to bathe and clean myself up. All of this blood… Isn't even mine."

Ben jumped up suddenly from his seat at the table. "I'll go with, for protection!"

Before he could take a single step forward Hansel, seated next to him, grabbed the boy by the collar and dragged him back down into his chair roughly and swiftly, giving him a warning look and a single shake of his head.

After a laugh Gretel chimed in. "I'll go. I could use a bath as well."

"That's… really not necessary…" Raena eyed the dark-haired woman as she disappeared into her room before reappearing with some fresh clothes of her own.

"I'll go with or without you honestly." She headed straight out the door without hesitation and started into the woods.

Raena looked over at Hansel, who met her gaze momentarily. With a meek smile she turned and followed after Gretel.

"You really didn't need to come with me, Gretel. I'm perfectly capable of taking a bath by myself." Raena was at one end of the spring undressing with her back towards Gretel at the other end.

"I didn't come for your safety or to help you. I came along because I wanted to get out of that cottage." She sank down into the hot water and reveled in it. She turned after she heard Raena get in as well, raising a brow. "And I wanted to talk to you alone."

Raena rolled her eyes with a sigh before she dipped her hair back into the water to rinse it. "I should have known, you're always plotting away in that head of yours."

"No plotting," Gretel assured her, "just talking. Hansel has been fairly angry with me as of late, and I'm certain it has something to do with you."

"Blaming me for your problems with your sibling? Classy."

"I only meant that something had to have happened that day that you and I had our… disagreement."

Raena scoffed. "You mean the day that you attacked me and practically told me that you couldn't wait for me to die? Mmmmm…" She feigned thinking for a few seconds before pursing her lips. "No, nothing happened."

Gretel tilted her head in disbelief. "Raena, I'm trying to make amends."

"You?! Making amends?! HA!" Raena turned to the bank behind her and grabbed the soap that she'd made a few days earlier, submerging it in the water to lather as she focused her attention back on Gretel. "You hate me, and that's fine, but don't blame me when your brother is angry with you. I did nothing that you wouldn't approve of."

Gretel gasped as her eyes widened. "He made a move on you and you turned him down, didn't you?!" She earned a crooked purse of the lips and a raised eyebrow before she continued. "What did you say to him?"

Shaking her head, "none of your business. What's done is done and there's no reason for you to think that you need be involved any longer. I've done my part and made it abundantly clear that I don't want him."

"But what did you _say_? That's what's most important."

Pausing as she washed her arms, Raena sighed. "He tried to kiss me, and I asked him about Mina. Got him to turn away swiftly."

Gretel groaned as she sank further into the water, fully submerged for a long minute before she came back up and blinked at the brunette across from her. "Why would you bring her up?"

"I beg your pardon?"

"It's a sore subject for him and now he knows that I've spoken to you, that's why he's so angry with me."

Raena shrugged. "What else was I supposed to say? 'Sorry, I don't want anything to do with you romantically because your sister is a horrendous bitch. Fuck off.' Yeah, I'm sure that was a far better option but I didn't exactly have time to think of something grand to say."

There was silence between the two for a while. Raena was nearly finished bathing when Gretel finally spoke again.

"I don't hate you… I just don't trust very easily. And Hansel is all I have left."

Raena looked at Gretel, wanting to show disdain but in reality she could tell that Gretel was struggling.

Gretel sighed. "I'm over protective of him, I know this. But he has never become so attached to a woman before and it frightened me that he might actually become distracted enough to make a mistake and end up killed because of it. I need him to be sharp, and at the ready for anything. My life depends on how he goes into a fight, and I don't want either of us to end up dead."

"Don't worry Gretel, I'll be dead after my fight with Delona anyways."

"I don't mean that I want you dead-"

"It doesn't matter what you want. Even if I can defeat my sister and destroy half of Morgana's soul, I have to die." The look of shock written across Gretel's features said it all. "I think with one half of her soul destroyed the half inside of me may be weakened enough to destroy while still inside of me. I'll of course research it as much as possible, but I need you to promise me that you won't let me live."

Gretel shook her head. "Me? Kill you? You're asking me to kill you?!"

Raena nodded. "I'm telling you that we cannot risk me losing control to her. To defeat Delona I will have to give in and use as much power as Morgana can give me. But you're right… I can't control her and I won't be able to fight her back into submission. The best thing for your safety is to kill me when you get the chance."

"Hansel will never forgive me, I can't."

"Hansel won't care, I made sure of it."

"That's not true at all! He's angry, so he's pouting and brooding, but I promise you that he adores you just as much now as he did before."

"Gretel, please." Raena didn't much care for begging but if she had to do it, she would. "It will be difficult enough controlling her just to destroy the other half of her soul, she's going to be angry and she's going to go after Hansel because she will know that I care about him. She will use him against me, kill him, or worse."

"What's worth than death?"

"There are many things worse than death, of that you can be sure. I'm asking you to do this. I need your word."

Gretel shook her head, trying her best to stand firm. "There has to be a way… We could perform the ritual on you and pull her soul from you as well-"

"We won't have time for that. There is a short window of time that will allow us to complete the ritual on Delona, we won't have another chance at this for an entire year." Raena had made up her mind and there would be no changing it.

"You aren't going to take no for an answer, are you?" She earned a shake of the head, and Gretel sighed. "You're really willing to plan your own murder just to save us?"

"Well," Raena shrugged, "it isn't murder. It's just death. And I've been around for centuries; there isn't much that I would miss here on Earth."

"Alright, I'll do it. But don't be surprised when Hansel tries to save you. He might not be acting like it right now, but I can promise you that he hasn't given up on you."

"And that makes you and I friends now?"

Gretel chuckled. "No, what makes us friends is that you don't have a problem standing up to me, and more so that you care so deeply for humans. I certainly hated you before, but I've seen the effort you're putting into trying to stop Delona and I cannot deny that I'm sort of taking a liking to you. With my brother defending you and all the work we're doing…. I figure you can't be completely awful."

Raena laughed before throwing her soap at Gretel. " _You're_ completely awful, you know that?"

"Yeah," Gretel nodded as she laughed and caught the soap, "that's why I get paid to kill for a living!"

* * *

I hope you guys liked it! Please leave a review if possible!


	7. Chapter 7

This one is going to be sort of long, sorry? You know what to do!

 **Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters or whatnot from Hansel and Gretel, Witch-hunters. Etc. Etc.**

* * *

"So," Gretel started as the two finished getting dressed and ready to head back to the cottage, "I won't say I didn't notice the scars."

Raena paused as she thought back to all of the times that she'd been injured badly enough to earn a battle scar. "Right. And I suppose you're curious as to where they all came from?" She earned a nod before she continued. "This one," she pointed towards her ribs which were now hidden beneath her bodice, "was a few years back when I had a run in with a witch hunter. I had tried to save the village from a wild fire but of course no good deed goes unpunished. He staked me and I had to use my magic to disappear. I awoke a few hours later in an unfamiliar wood with half of it turned to ash. Haven't been back since."

Gretel nodded, intrigued.

"The largest one on my back was from a battle with Delona two centuries ago. She has one similar across her stomach. The one back here," she turned and motioned to what would be her left shoulder blade on her back, "I told the wrong man 'no…' And he was a king, so that was fun."

"A king?!"

Raena nodded with a chuckle, "he didn't live much longer after that. Ran me through with his own sword under the presumption that because I was able to resist him I must be a witch. He wasn't wrong, yet I dare say his accusation was based on irrational thought. I've a few different scars on my stomach, multiple stab wounds throughout the years and some were curses from Dark Witches that I'd failed to avoid in the midst of protecting humans. All of whom then tried to have me burned at the stake…"

Gretel couldn't fathom that a woman could be put through so many near-death experiences and yet she remained protective over Ben's kind. "How have you managed to stay hidden for so long if you've had so many run-ins with humans?"

She laughed before responding. "I can't be sure. I'd say not earning myself a reputation as a child-eater and avoiding murdering women for their youth has certainly been a help. Mostly I just avoided interactions as best I could. Until I saved your brother's life. That was my downfall."

"He is a bit of a nuisance, on that we most certainly agree."

"No more so than you, Gretel. At least he doesn't go straight to punching women with aconite." The two shared a silent chuckle as they made their way back to the cottage.

* * *

Hansel knew that something was up when Raena and his sister returned to the cottage laughing. What they'd talked about while they were gone he had no clue of, but they were mortal enemies hours earlier and now they were on like life-long friends. Raena disappeared into her room with the Neier DeTome and Gretel served herself a bowl of rabbit stew before sitting down at the table across from her brother.

He eyed her for a moment as she tore off a piece of bread and gnawed on it. "You're friends now?"

Gretel shrugged. "Wouldn't you prefer it that way?"

"I'd prefer you not go around telling people about Mina."

"Ah." Gretel chewed through a spoonful of meat and veggies before continuing. "I knew you were upset about that."

"Livid is more the word I'd use. Why did you think that it would be necessary to bring that up in conversation? And did you honestly think I wouldn't know when you mention it the same day Raena does?"

"I didn't understand her at first. You have to realize that I was trying to protect you."

"But you understand her now after your bath session together?"

Gretel chorted through a spoonful of broth. "Don't sound so jealous, you could have volunteered to go with her. Besides, we had a nice little chat and we came to an understanding. I was wrong about her. She's definitely no Dark Witch. If it weren't for that extra bit of soul within her, I'd say she's the purest of White Witches."

Hansel's eyes narrowed. "I don't believe you."

"Fine, then don't. I know what I thought about her before, and I know what she's willing to do to protect not only us but the rest of the world. You were right about her and I see that now." She continued to eat, ignoring her brother's stares.

"Did you just admit that you were wrong and I was right?"

"Don't get used to it, not likely to happen ever again." She threw a wink across the table at him with a crooked smile.

* * *

Another week passed before Raena had managed to find a spell that could potentially force Morgana's soul from Delona's body. The required date and time was what she'd previously known, so all she had to do was gather the ingredients and prepare everything. They had about three weeks left, and she as getting antsy.

"Okay!" She set down two pieces of parchment with items scribbled across them, staring at the three seated at the table and Ed sitting in the corner of the room. "I've written down all of the items that we need. I'm positive that the nearest villages aren't going to have what we need, so we will have to split up and go farther. There should be villages within three days' ride of here, we just need to get there and get back as quickly as possible. We have exactly 21 days, and the ingredients will take four days to brew together. I'll need at least eight days of course in case anything goes wrong with the first batch and I need to make a second. That leaves us with 13 days to travel, gather everything, and return here."

Gretel glanced between Hansel and Ben, the younger of the two looked more than eager to get started.

"I'll take Ben and Edward with me, we'll go North." She grabbed one of the pieces of parchment and flashed Raena a reassuring smile. "You'll need real protection so Hansel will go with you. Ben would be useless and Ed doesn't go into towns, so…"

Raena rolled her shoulders and placed her hands at her hips, narrowing her eyes. She knew was Gretel was up to. So she followed the woman into her room while she readied to pack for their trip.

"A week ago you were screaming at me to stay away from your brother and now you're sending us off together to be alone for days?"

"You need protection, someone who can actually fight in case anything happens. If your sister is still looking for you then there's a chance that she's employed some Dark underlings and they may be out there searching for you as we speak. Hansel knows what he's doing, and he will make sure nobody messes with you while you're in town."

Raena glared at her as Gretel continued to pack, moving on to her weapons. "You could come with me and send Hansel with Ben."

"It draws less attention when it's a man and a woman traveling together. Even if Ben is small and skittish, he passes for my younger brother better than you would pass for my sister. If you're with Hansel then people are less likely to ask questions."

"I doubt anyone will be asking any questions. You realize you're making this difficult?"

Gretel sighed and turned to Raena. "I already admitted that I was wrong about you, I'm trying to make things right. We're focused on getting this done and we all know what's at stake. I think maybe you should consider your options. Pushing Hansel away, while it is what I previously wanted, might make things harder on yourself. Why not give yourself a chance to find a reason to survive? Maybe you'll like Hansel enough to not make me kill you. Or maybe you'll realize he's dull and boring and he's really only good at one thing which is killing our kind." She shrugged. "Who knows."

Raena let out an exasperated sigh. "You should know that after this we're back to being enemies."

Gretel laughed as Raena left the door. "Be safe darling, I yearn for your return!" Chuckling through the sarcasm she raised a brow as Hansel passed by her room, unamused by her antics. She gave him another wink as he walked away, and she couldn't help but smile at the fun she was having with this.

Their journey began in silence, Raena following closely behind Hansel as they navigated forests and marshes. It took them three days to reach a large enough village to stop in. They'd passed through and browsed the smaller villages for more common ingredients, but a majority of the larger/more expensive items would be found in bustling market places.

As the pair entered the main square dusk was setting and the moon's glow could be seen to the far East.

Hansel turned sharply and headed for an Inn. "We should settle for the night, the markets will be closing as it is and you need rest."

She furrowed her brow curiously. " _I_ need rest?"

He nodded and threw a glance over his shoulder. "Yes, we need you sharp and well-rested."

Raena remained silent as she followed him into the Inn and across the room to the innkeeper.

"A room for three nights please." He tossed some coin down and received a key before making his way towards the stairs with Raena in tow.

"One room? For the two of us?"

He didn't respond until they were both in the room and he had dropped his large black leather satchel from his shoulder. "If you want to reduce suspicion and avoid confrontation it's best to be in one room. People need to believe that we're a couple."

"You could say I'm your sister." Raena dropped her own satchel before crossing her arms.

Hansel glanced over at her as he began to unpack his weapons on the small table in the corner of the room. Looking her up and down he shook his head. "No one would believe that."

Raena scoffed as she looked down at herself. She had thought she looked fairly average in her simple skirts, chemise, and bodice. "Am I under-dressed?"

"No," Hansel laughed, "your eyes give you away, and your skin. You look too well-kept. I'm no brute, but I am worn from fights. You're too flawless."

Flawless was not a word that she had ever associated with herself before. "Fine." Raena began to roughly unpack her things as she bit her tongue. Clearly Gretel hadn't mentioned to him her scars or the things that they'd discussed. That showed Gretel could be trusted, but Raena felt somehow wounded by the thought that Hansel thought her "too flawless." Her face may not have been scarred, but the rest of her was.

Raena awoke the next morning before the sun itself had come up which allowed her to dress before Hansel woke up and also gave her time to get herself some breakfast down in the tavern part of the inn. Just as she finished eating Hansel was making his way down the stairs, looking a bit worried.

He approached her and leaned over the table as he locked eyes with her. "You left on your own?"

"I was hungry." Raena wiped her mouth and stood, straightening out her skirts as she looked Hansel up and down. "You don't need to watch me at all times. I wasn't going to leave the building."

Opening his mouth to retort, Hansel thought twice and simply gave a nod before he tore the parchment that she'd written the ingredients on in half. "You're right. We'll split up today, get everything gathered faster." He set one half of the list in front of her, pocketing the other.

She watched as he brushed past her towards the door. "Hansel!" He didn't stop, exiting the building without so much as a glance her way. Raena sighed before she left the inn as well, turning in the opposite direction that he had gone. The markets didn't open for a short while longer, so Raena kept herself busy by walking up and down the alleys, familiarizing herself with any potential exits in case she needed to run. It was a habit of hers since she'd been on her own and in hiding for so long.

When the shops did begin to open Raena made sure to stop by each and every vendor's cart and little shops so as not to miss anything. With the list torn in half she had significantly less to worry about, but this was still something that she wanted to get done as quickly as possible. Especially since Hansel loathed being in her presence.

Four ingredients and a couple of hours later she found herself in front of a cart that had uncommon vegetables on it. She was picking through them looking for one particular purple ginger-root when a man stepped up beside her, eyeing her closely and looking her up and down.

Raena cleared her throat gently as she threw him a sideways glance. "I'm spoken for."

"Certainly you must be, what with eyes like that."

She recognized his accent as far Northern, but she shook off her suspicions as he leaned in closer to her, inhaling deeply.

"You would do well to keep your distance, sir." She leaned away from him before he responded with a guttural chuckle.

"I didn't think I'd find you this far South, it's a shock to think that you would have made it all on your own."

"Have we met before?"

"No," he shook his head with a sickening grin as he looked her up and down again, "but I know you."

His graying scraggly hair and yellowed teeth made Raena's skin crawl, the wrinkled and spotted exposed skin of his hands and neck gave away his age and the hot rancid breath that wafted her direction made her pull back further.

"I believe you have me mistaken for someone else." She turned to walk away only to find that two other men were standing behind her, matching black robes and worn boots.

"There is no mistaking you, witch."

Raena turned to look at him, remaining calm as she raised her brow at him. "I'm certain there is. I'm not a witch."

He grabbed her arm and pulled her through the crowding streets, spitting as he spoke. "Five years ago you attacked a village near the Northern border. I remember the blackened, charred remains of the forest nearby that you desecrated after burning half of the village to the ground. Women and children, fathers and brothers… All of them screaming and suffering because of _you_."

Raena recognized him finally, noting that the years had not been kind to him. Darius Melarc: witch hunter and murderer of innocents. If he even so much as suspected someone of witchcraft he would find a way to kill them and just call it a tragic accident necessary to weed out evil.

And yet she remained steadfast as he dragged her up some steps and forced her through a door into what appeared to be a lawman's office. She turned to him, straightening out her skirts as she locked her gaze with his. He was mistaken in thinking that was how the events of that day had unfolded.

"I'm sorry but you're wasting your time. I've never been North of Eyersberg, and I've certainly never set fires to any villages. I'm not a witch."

One of the other two men grabbed her basket from her arm and dumped it out on a nearby table to rummage through and investigate what was in there.

Raena turned her attention to the leader of the three as he unrolled a burlap wrap full of small metal torture devices. She recognized them, he'd wanted to use them on her before, but hadn't had the time.

"You know…" Darius started, a sickening glint of excitement in his eyes. "I've been searching for you for a long time. You're one of the only ones that's gotten away from me."

"You're mistaken." She raised her voice now as he slid one of the items from its holder and examined it in the dim light of the room.

"Even if I am mistaken and you aren't the same girl, what's to say that you aren't a witch? Those items you've been buying are rather rare, what could a simple girl need with them?"

"I make tonics for ailments, those items are useful and I only make it to market every month or two. I need to be prepared and have enough on hand in case something should go wrong."

"Tonics?" He placed the silver spearhead back, fingers dancing across the other devices before landing on what looked like a tall pointed spearhead resting on a short dagger-length handle. "As in potions."

"No," Raena glanced at the two men who grew bored of her basket and began closing in on her, "as in medicines. To help sick people. I don't practice any type of witchcraft!"

He nodded as a low 'mm-hmm' sounded from his throat. "I suppose there are ways to test her?" Pausing a few feet from Raena he looked at the other two men.

"We could bind her hands and feet and throw her in the river. If she floats it will prove she's a witch!"

Raena rolled her eyes. "And when I _don't_ float then I'll drown you moron! Honestly is that what it comes down to now? You test to see if they float in a river? How stupid do you have to be?"

The three paused for a moment before Darius started laughing. The other two slowly joined in, and for a solid moment Raena thought they might all be having a psychotic break. Until she felt the sharp sting of a slap to the face, with such a force that her head whipped painfully to the left.

"I know it was you! You think you're so clever, don't you?" He grabbed her roughly by the face and pushed her back against the wall, holding his torture device at eye level.

Raena grabbed his wrist and clenched her jaw as she felt his grip on her tighten.

"I've been tracking you… It wasn't easy you see." He released her face to send his fist across her face again before he grabbed her once more and forced her to look at him. "You were sneaky, yes so sneaky. I lost many a good men in the fights against other witches that we encountered."

"I'm… Not… A witch." Raena pushed at his chest but he only held onto her tighter, snaking his hand down to rest at her throat as he pushed into her.

"This here," he waggled the spear-head near her face, "this is my favorite. I push it up through the ribs, right here…" He placed the point against her bodice in the exact location that he'd previously driven a stake through. "And I push it up at an angle. I breaks the ribs, ensuring as much suffering as possible, and then I push the bottom of the handle up, and it springs open within your chest. Destroys the heart completely. No witch can survive that."

Raena shook her head as she gritted her teeth. "You're making a mistake." He released her and hit her again, sending her to the floor before he grabbed her by the hair and dragged her back up the wall to place his hand back at her throat. She could taste the blood in her mouth and the warm droplets on her lip, and she had to resist coughing as his hand began to crush her windpipe.

Darius narrowed his eyes at her as he placed the point of his device at her ribs on the left side of her bodice. "I think not." He drove the spike into her, not flinching as she grabbed his wrists and gasped, eyes widening. With a dark laugh he removed his hand from the device and cradled her face in one hand, stroking her hair with the other as she gasped for air. "Don't fret now, it will be over soon…" He hit her again just for good measure, but held her steady on her feet as her head twisted roughly to the side from the force and her brunette curls fell to curtain her face.

Raena sobbed for a moment, the pain too excruciating to ignore. She clutched his wrist at her throat as she whimpered. He wanted a witch? She'd give him one. Just as he placed his hand back at the handle of his device, Raena's sobs turned into giggling. The giggles turned into a maniacal cackle as she closed her eyes, feeling the surge of power coursing through her veins.

"Why-why is she laughing?" Darius looked back at his two companions, but was met with a hard fist. He hit the floor with a loud thud.

Just as his hand left her throat Raena slid down the wall, collapsing as she rolled her head from side to side and continued to cackle. She could hear Darius' grunts and the repeated sound of flesh hitting flesh, but she had to focus her energy to her wounds.

Hansel continued to hit Raena's captor repeatedly until his eyes were too swollen to open and he knew the man wasn't getting up. His two companions had been silently knocked out and were lying limp on the floor some feet away from them.

Stepping over the unconscious man Hansel knelt in front of Raena and gently stabilized her head, brushing the hair from her face and trying to ignore the cackling.

"Raena, open your eyes, are you okay?" He nearly jumped back when she opened her eyes and he was met with completely white pupils. But Hansel didn't pull back. She wore a wide, crooked smile across her lips, blood seeping from between her teeth.

"Don't worry." Raena whispered through her giggles. "She's not here."

"Wh-who? Who isn't here?"

"Morgana." Raena placed her hands atop Hansel's as he sighed with relief. "I was just about to stop him."

Hansel nodded and rolled his eyes, "I'm sure. You were doing great." He moved his hands to her waist and hoisted her up off of the floor, catching her as she fell back against the wall.

Raena continued to giggle as she reached down and tugged at the spike in her ribs.

"Don't touch that!" Hansel swatted her hand away and tried to stabilize her with his own body while not driving the spike further into her. "If I can get you to that table-"

"No!" Raena laughed, "you have to pull it out, I can't heal with it stuck in me like roast pig."

He shook his head at her as she put her hands on his shoulders and laughed through a bloodied smile. "It's disturbing that you're laughing right now."

"It's disturbing that you're not laughing right now." One of her hands slid down to the collar of his vest, and she tightened her grip on it. "Do it."

Hansel gripped the spike and in one swift movement ripped it cleanly from her body, dropping it to the floor as Raena screamed and fell into him. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry…"

Raena shook her head as her knees gave out. Hansel lowered her to the floor gently and knelt beside her with an arm around her waist.

"I'll be fine." Her laughter died down as she felt the burning itch of her skin slowly healing. She clenched her jaw and let out muffled screams through gritted teeth as her ribs cracked back into place. She didn't once release Hansel's collar, and he held her the entirety of the time she was healing.

Darius sat up with a groan, and Hansel swiftly raised a gun to the man's face.

"Bad form old man." He looked back at Raena and locked eyes with her as he pulled the trigger and Darius' head splattered across the room.

Raena furrowed her brow at Hansel as he holstered his weapon and then brushed her hair back away from her face. Her eyes faded back to their honey and gold as her powers began to subside. "How'd you find me?"

He smiled crookedly as he shrugged off her question nonchalantly. "I'm really good at what I do."

"Which is?"

"I hunt witches."

The two laughed momentarily until Raena winced from the pain. "We should leave."

"Raena, you're covered in blood."

"Only on the outside." She sat back and showed him that, although her bodice was covered with her own blood, her skin was healed over with a dark pink scar. "We can't be here if someone else shows up. Gather those ingredients and my basket and my list. We can't leave any of us behind."

Hansel did as he was told only to return to her side quickly and help her to her feet. "We'll have to sneak you into the Inn. We can't let anyone see you or it might raise some suspicions."

"I could always fly into our room on my broom." She chuckled as he gave her a surprised look. "Joking. I'll use the back door."

* * *

It was a bit longer than the others, sorry! Well, not really sorry because I wanted that to happen. I was going to post it last night but my internet went out so I had to wait until this morning. Next chapter might get a little... risqué... Maybe. I think it will but I'm also worried about offending people so just a heads up on that!


	8. Chapter 8

Sorry it took so long! Things have been crazy at work and now I'm trying to find a new job, so I'm a bit behind in my writing! Here's the next chapter! Please leave a review at the end!

 **Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters from the movies, only the OC's that I've created. Enjoy!**

* * *

By the time they had snuck back into their room at the inn Raena's wounds were completely healed. She'd be sore for a while but that was better than bleeding out, and it was easy enough to clean herself up. Rid of the blood and her hair pinned up in a messy twist of curls Raena stood to one side of the room as she stripped out of her blood-stained clothes and replaced them with a clean chemise and started working on lacing up her front-laced corset. She could hear Hansel shifting across the room as he gathered all of the things that they'd bought and organized them on the table in the corner of the room, his back to her.

"Do you heal like that all the time?"

She glanced over her shoulder and smiled as he kept his back to her and his eyes down. "Sometimes it can take longer depending on the wounds. Luckily Darius didn't know that my heart was on the other side of my chest so he didn't do too much damage."

"And your scars?" He hesitated before turning to look at her, leaning back against the edge of the table.

"You saw? I thought you weren't going to peek while I was undressing?" She caught his cheeks flushing a bit before she turned back to focus on lacing up her corset. With a sigh she gave the shortest answer that she could. "I've had some run-ins with humans, and witches, and witch hunters before."

Hansel gestured in the direction of the building he'd just rescued her from. "Him too?"

She nodded. "I didn't recognize him at first, and he said that we'd never met before, now I understand why. He hadn't actually introduced himself the last time that we'd met: Darius Melarc. Years ago there was a wildfire in a village far North. I could hear the screams as people were engulfed by the heat and flames, so of course I tried to help. Unfortunately even if you're saving their lives people tend to be petrified of anyone who uses magic. I was just trying to contain the fire and once I had put it out, _he_ chased me down and drove a stake through me. The same exact place he'd done it today. He's sadistic and he doesn't care if you're really a witch or not. Even if he has no proof he will kill you. Well, he would have, but now he's rotting in the underworld where he belongs."

"I'm sorry I wasn't with you."

Raena turned, her corset only half laced up as she looked over at the guilt in Hansel's eyes. "But you did find me, and you did rescue me."

Hansel scoffed. "Too late, I'd say."

"Better than not at all." Raena flashed him a smile when he glanced over at her. She caught his gaze shifting to look her up and down, and Raena turned her back to him again. "You're supposed to be facing the other way, remember?" Her fingers worked quickly to tighten the laces.

"Why'd you apologize about Mina?"

"Because I am sorry for your loss. She was special to you wasn't she?"

He nodded as he leaned against his hands on the edge of the table. "It was years ago, and I'm grateful for her sacrifice every day."

"She knew that you and your sister were worth the sacrifice." Raena flashed him a smile over her shoulder.

"I thought corsets laced in the back." He was changing subjects quickly as he found it harder and harder to tear his gaze away from her soft figure.

Raena chuckled. "They do when you have someone to help you into them. I had some made to lace in the front or else I'd never be able to wear them." She heard light footsteps making their way across the room, and a hand touched her shoulder. She turned to find Hansel standing just in front of her.

He took the laces from her and continued the work that she had started, face void of all emotion.

"You have much experience with corsets?"

"Gretel wears bodices and sometimes she needs an extra hand, can't be much different."

Raena shook her head, hands down at her sides. "They're practically one in the same. One goes under your clothes, the other goes on top."

"And you prefer under the clothes it seems." He met her gaze as he tied off the extra lace and draped it down across the front of her. His hands rested against the fabric of the corset, fingers stretching as he slowly moved to take hold of her waist.

"It's simpler." Raena watched him as the corner of his mouth twitched as if he was hiding a smile.

He gave a curt nod and reached behind her head, pulling the wooden pin from her hair and gently tussling her curls as they fell down over her back and shoulders.

"Hansel…" She took a few steps back, but he closed the distance with her until her back was flat against the wall and he had one hand at her waist, the other caressing the side of her neck.

"You had hoped that I'd lose interest didn't you?"

Raena nodded in guilt and turned her head to avoid his gaze. "I thought I'd succeeded for a while there. You genuinely seemed to hate me."

Hansel leaned down trailing butterfly kisses along her jawline. "No," he started between the kisses, "I was angry with my sister."

"She and I have come to an understanding, no need to be angry with her anymore." Raena focused intently on a piece of a frayed wooden beam across the ceiling, nails silently scratching the wood of the wall behind her as she felt a warmth growing inside of her.

Hansel moved his lips down to Raena's neck, earning a moan as he suckled on the bit just below her earlobe.

Raena immediately put her hands to Hansel's chest and gave him a light push, putting a few inches between them as she looked up at him. "We can't."

Pulling back Hansel's eyes widened slightly. "You don't want to, I'm sorry." He made to pull away but she gripped his wrists and kept him from moving.

"No I do…" She bit her lower lip as she watched the confusion written across his face. "I can't put you in any more danger than I already have."

"You… put _me_ in danger?"

"Yes!" Raena scoffed. "If it wasn't for me then Delona wouldn't be so close to resurrecting Morgana's soul, and I can promise you that she will use my feelings for you against me. While you and Gretel stand beside me you're both already at risk of her wrath if she is to succeed."

"She won't." Hansel shook his head and grasped her hands in his own. "Gretel and I don't lose. We always find a way. And I believe in you."

She met his gaze for a few long seconds before sighing. "You can believe in me all you want, but the truth is Delona is stronger than I am, she always has been. And if she couldn't resist the pull of the darkness then I have no chance at doing so. Besides, she's been harnessing Morgana's power for so long that she can manipulate and work with the other soul. I've fought that part of me for so long that I'm certain to die."

"I won't let you die." He said those words with such conviction, his eyes so sure that he would be able to save her.

Raena swallowed the hard lump in her throat as she feigned a smile. She was well aware of the fact that she wouldn't be walking away from their upcoming fight for more than one reason. She'd already made Gretel promise to run her through when it was all said and done, so even if she could survive fighting Delona and killing that half of Morgana's soul, Raena was a dead woman walking.

She folded Hansel's hands together and wrapped hers around them, pressing them to the warmth of her cheek for a moment before she gently released him. "The only thing that you should be focusing on during our battle is the Dark Witches that Delona has convinced to join her. Whatever happens to me before, during, or after my fight with my sister is no concern of yours. You must promise me that you won't pay me any mind during our fight, you'll stay focused and not worry about me."

"No," Hansel shook his head, "I won't promise that."

"Hansel…" She reached up and straightened the collar of his leather vest, giving it a light pat as she continued. "You can't save everyone. I learned that centuries ago, and have been reminded repeatedly throughout the years. Pick your battles, and accept your losses. I will be a loss." The pain and confusion in his eyes broke Raena's heart as she folded her hands behind her back and pressed them against the wall. Her gaze faltered and she looked down at her feet.

"You sound like you're already dead." He received only a shrug from her as he observed her features closely. "You've lived most of your life as though you're already dead." Her eyes met his, curiosity and shock mixed together as she eyed him. "Avoiding other people, taking extra care to not be discovered by Delona, living off of the land as much as possible and not leaving any ties wherever you go... You've never loved anyone before have you?"

Golden eyes widened and as she opened her mouth to retort, she realized that he was right. Save for the love she had for her mother and her sister when they were younger, Raena hadn't known what it was like to trust and care for another person enough to love them, be it friendly or romantic.

"I've _known_ men-"

"That's not what I mean."

She felt the vein in her neck twitch as she struggled to think of one person who had every mattered to her before now… Before Hansel…

"You've been detached from everyone because you wanted to survive, but you never let yourself _live_. I want to give you the chance to not only survive, but to truly live."

"You barely know me!" Raena pushed past him in exasperation, running her hands through her hair.

Hansel turned, not skipping a beat. "I know you far better than you think I do. You saved my life when you knew that doing so could cost you your own. Say I woke up and thought you were a witch, like you feared, I could have killed you one hundred different ways without my weapons. You could have killed my sister and Ben when they attacked you, but you didn't. You value human lives because you know they don't live forever, and you suffer torture and excruciating pain just to give humans a small chance at surviving. You have sacrificed your entire life to protect _my_ kind! And all the while you've only ever managed to survive, but what else can be said about your life other than you survived, and sacrificed, and protected. What did you get from any of it?"

Her voice was shaky as she turned to him, eyes welling with tears. She'd always felt alone, but busying herself with saving humans dulled the pain and gave her a reason to continue. "I brought honor to my mother's memory…"

"And you think your mother would have wanted you to be alone without a friend in the world?"

Raena clenched her jaw before she snapped. "I didn't want to survive, Hansel! Don't you dare think that all of my scars are from other people. I've tried to destroy my half of Morgana's soul before, and in doing so I tried to end my own life. When I lost Delona to the darkness I lost the only person who could ever understand me. And I tried to save the rest of the world by ending my existence. But I physically can't. I couldn't be allowed to love, or make friends, or be a part of any family. I dedicated my life to protecting humans and in doing that I had to sacrifice everything. And if you hadn't come along and nearly gotten yourself killed in my woods then I'd still be there minding my own business and doing small good deeds for the people in nearby villages. But no, Hansel the great witch hunter just had to drop dead in my path and become _my_ burden. If it weren't for you then Delona wouldn't know where I was and the world would perfectly safe-"

"So you pass the blame off onto me now?"

Growling, Raena stamped her foot as she narrowed her eyes at the man. "You are infuriating! I have enough weaknesses already going into this battle, I don't need another one."

A few long seconds passed as she watched the pain sink into his features, trailing across the rough lines across his forehead and into the crows-feet at the corners of his eyes. Immediately Raena felt sick to her stomach and wanted to apologize, to tell him that she hadn't meant it and that she was just terrified. But she couldn't. She had to save him somehow and if this was the only way then so be it.

"You think _I'm_ a weakness?"

She nodded her head sternly, cross her arms in front of her as she pursed her lips. "That is what I said, isn't it?"

Hansel gave a few light nods as he held his hands up in mock surrender and moved around her, back to the table with their ingredients and weapons sprawled out. "You should get some rest, we'll need to head out early to get some more shopping done. No doubt the town crier will be wailing about Darius' and his goon's deaths. We'll have to move quickly and not draw any attention to ourselves."

The acidic burning of bile creeping up her throat made Raena double over as she tried to fight back to urge to get sick. For some reason hurting him like that made her physically ill, and it took everything she had to flatly respond, "fine," without a hint of emotion.

* * *

Hope you enjoyed! Sorry I'm a monster and can't let them be happy just yet. Maybe at all... DUN DUN DUUUNNN! You'll have to review and let me know what you think, and maybe I'll give them a happy ending *wink* Thanks so much!


	9. Chapter 9

So sorry it's taken so long to post! A friend has had my laptop for the past... Like... year. Anyways! It's almost over and I really hope you guys don't hate me for taking so long! We're almost to the end, yikes! Enjoy!

* * *

The following six days were spent in agony. Raena kept up with Hansel just fine as he maneuvered in and out of the towns closest to where they were. They managed to find all of the ingredients on their list and head back to their "home" with one day to spare. Hansel kept himself busy with his weapons, cleaning the guns and counting his ammunitions, and sharpening all of his blades. On occasion he would disappear for a minute or two, something that Raena had caught onto very early into their dealings together. Timed almost to perfect he would sulk off in silence every six hours. She knew, of course –thanks to Gretel's inability to not intervene in their personal lives- that he suffered from the sugar sickness. As Raena had been studying the Neier DeTome enough and had come across a few things that might help him with that in the future. Of course the two of them weren't exactly on speaking terms so she would just have to pass that information on to Gretel upon her return.

As night began to fall Raena found herself getting nervous. They hadn't heard from Gretel or Ben and had no way of knowing how close they were – or were not – to being home. She sighed heavily as the witching hour drew near, leaning back in her chair at the table with the Neier DeTome splayed open in front of her. Hansel had retreated to his bedroom a few hours beforehand, leaving her in charge of the dimly burning fireplace. Crackling flames drew Raena's attention and she stared at the amber flames for a few minutes before the anxiety of their upcoming battle started to set in. Closing her eyes Raena focused on the sounds of the fire and the creaking wood of their quaint cabin. She had been hoping for a sense of calm, but instead she saw only blood…

"Raena!"

She was startled awake a few hours later by Gretel's voice and a shift in the table that she was hunched over. Raena sat up quickly, throwing her hands up and eyes flashing white.

Gretel laughed awkwardly as Ben screamed and Ed grunted. "What has you so jumpy?"

"Gretel…" Raena grumbled hoarsely and rubbed her eyes. "Are you completely incapable of acting like a decent human being? If you see someone sleeping why is your first instinct to scare the living shit out of them?"

The brunette shrugged with a sly smile. "Why are you sleeping at the table instead of in a bed? Preferably-"

"Do us all a favor and don't say anything stupid today, Gretel." Hansel emerged from his room with his sister's crossbow in his hands, half dressed and covered in what looked like some type of black oil.

"Hansel." Gretel rolled her eyes at her brother before locking them with Raena. "I see you're as peachy as ever. Our impending doom too much for you right now?" She earned a glare before he kicked open the front door nonchalantly and exited the cabin calling for Ben to follow him. Once the two were gone Gretel settled into a chair across the table from Raena. "I see things went well between the two of you."

Golden eyes flashed at the brunette as Raena raised a brow. "Did you get what I asked?"

Nodding Gretel slid a small burlap sack across the table, watching as her brunette counterpart opened it and pulled the gold-handled dagger out. The blade was three individual thin black aconite blades that twisted around each other, a hallow space in between the three.

"It wasn't easy to come by; I'm not sure how you knew I would be able to get two of them."

Raena slid a second identical dagger from the burlap sack, looking between the two to ensure there were no defects. "They were forged from the same fire that burned Morgana's body, embedded with ashes from her pire." She placed them both back in the sack and tied it shut quickly. "They're bound by her magic, and are inseparable after a certain distance. Meant to be wielded by the same person."

"So," Gretel's voice lowered as she glanced over her shoulder to make sure Hansel wasn't anywhere in ear shot, "do you really think I'm going to be able to carry one while you carry the other?"

Raena nodded as she snapped the Neier DeTome shut and stood swiftly. "We don't have a choice. Once I destroy Delona I don't know how fast my half of Morgana's soul will overpower me. We can't risk me having the second dagger on my person or you might not be able to get close to me." There was a moment of silence as she prepared to take everything into her room.

"Rae…" Gretel stood and placed her hand on top of the Neier DeTome. "There has to be another way."

Their eyes locked and Raena saw a glint there that reminded her of her mother, the always-hopeful daughter of Morgana herself. It was a foreign emotion for Gretel, but she was most likely not even aware that she cared so much for Raena until just now.

"There isn't." Raena took the ingredients that they had all managed to collect and turned on her heel to disappear into her room.

Gretel looked down at the flesh-bound magical book in front of her, scowling at the thought that something so powerful wouldn't have a way to save someone like her friend.

* * *

Raena spent the following five days mixing everything exactly as the Neier DeTome instructed. Some of the ingredients had to stew and simmer in their own juices, but once it was ready she dipped both daggers into the concoction one at a time and laid them to dry. She'd locked herself away in her room for days, unsure if she was able to stand looking at the others in her last few days alive. Night fell before there was a knock on her door, at which Raena quickly hid the daggers and straightened herself out before answering it.

She pulled the door open just enough to peak out and come face to face with Gretel. "Yes?"

Her brown eyes looked black in the dimly lit cabin. "Are you going to just stay in there for the next 48 hours?" Raena nodded nonchalantly. "You can't stay in there forever Rae."

"I'm not, I'll be out in a couple of days."

Gretel shifted and put her fists to her hips. "Would you mind sharing with us where the fuck Delona is?"

Raena shook her head. "I don't know yet." She could tell by Gretel's slack-jaw, eye-popping expression that she was getting pissed. "Don't worry, I'm working on it. Just have the others ready at sunset two days from now. Trust me." She closed the door and just as she slid the lock there was another knock on the other side. With an exasperated growl Raena unlocked it quickly and pulled it open ready to shout something terrible and mean at Gretel to scare her off. But her words caught in her throat when she found herself under the icy gaze of Hansel. They stared at each other for a few seconds before he gestured into her room.

"Can we talk?"

Raena unwittingly pulled the door open for him and didn't register what was happening until he was already in the room and she was closing the door behind him. Her gaze flitted from him to the table beside her small, rickety bed where the daggers were concealed.

"If you're about to tell me that you don't like this plan then you're wasting your time."

"That's not what I want to say." He stood taller than usual, not as intimidating without his "battle-amor" on and instead just donning a simple white tunic and brown pants.

"Okay…" she breathed, rolling her eyes but crossing her hands behind her back and twisting her fingers.

"How are you feeling?"

The question caught her off-guard and her brow furrowed. "Fine."

Hansel nodded, crossing his arms. "You're not worried at all about having to kill your sister?"

"Oh. That." Raena shifted uncomfortably. "She chose her path, she knows I can't let her resurrect Morgana. I begged her not to turn dark centuries ago and she laughed in my face. Delona may be my blood but she hasn't been my sister for a long time now."

"Do you really think it'll be that easy?"

Raena scoffed. "If you're not sure I can do this that's fine but-"

"I have complete faith in you Raena. But my sister's _life_ relies on whether or not you succeed and quite frankly I don't think you believe in yourself. And I can't let her, Ben, Ed, and myself walk into a fight behind someone who doesn't have the same confidence in herself that we have in her."

Clenching her jaw she straightened her back and put on the strongest act she could. "I know what I need to do and Delona knows that I don't give up without a fight."

"We can't afford for you to give up at all. We're family and I expect all of us to walk away from this fight."

"Then you have nothing to worry about because I plan on all of us walking away, too." She watched his features closely as the corners of his eyes twisted slightly. His eyes bore into her soul as the two didn't break eye contact for a long moment.

"Good." Hansel gave her a curt nod before he walked past her and out of the room.

Raena almost collapsed as she fell back silently against her door. Lying to him nearly broke her, and as much as it pained her to admit it, she wasn't sure if she was ready to die. But she knew that she had to because she couldn't risk losing to Delona. Human kind needed her to die, even after everything she'd already sacrificed for them she still had more to give. She just hoped that she had wounded Hansel badly enough to make him hate her now, that way he wouldn't be as hurt by her death.

The same thoughts ran through her mind repeatedly throughout the 48 hours that the five continued to prepare for their fight. Raena didn't emerge from her room until sunset the evening of the full moon, only stepping out once she was finished dressing in her light blue skirts and bodice.

"You're wearing a dress?" Gretel chuckled as she holstered her weapons and continued to count ammunitions. "Practical."

Raena smirked back at the woman that she was secretly sad to leave behind. "It's my style. I don't judge you for your leathers."

"My clothing serves a purpose."

"As does mine! It's what Delona is used to seeing me in, I've never been one for battle armor or leather or furs. Delona doesn't know that we're coming, if I show up looking like you she will know there's more to my plan."

"Speaking of her not knowing that we're coming…" Ben's gaze shifted between the two as Hansel stepped inside, ready for battle. "How are we going to find her?"

Rubbing her hands together Raena's eyes faded to white as she slowly pulled her hands apart. "If you're all properly prepared we can leave now." She'd done transportation spells before, but she'd never had to move more than just herself. She only hoped that the others wouldn't get sick from the sudden surge of magic…

* * *

Alrighty! It's about to get real. I'm not terribly great at describing fight scenes so I do hope you guys can forgive me for the next chapter. Should be up soon!


	10. Chapter 10

Sorry it's taken so long! But, here it is! The second to last chapter! I've been really busy with life in general, but I can promise that the next -and final- chapter will be up within the next few days. Also, remember: I don't write fight scenes well so I'm not going to make this an extensively long post. Just going to try to get the important stuff in there!

Edit: It came to my attention after re-reading what I had posted that there were quite a few mistakes made. So I went ahead and fixed them, and have posted the 10th chapter again. Sorry!

* * *

The field that they landed on was open, surrounded entirely by blackened forest and broken cliffs. Raena landed gently, expecting the fall. Her companions, however, landed roughly, Ben stumbling to his knees as he released the contents of his stomach and doubled over. Gretel leaned over herself, hands on her knees with her weapons strapped her back, Hansel in a similar position as the two tried to stabilize themselves and avoid the wretching in their guts. . The blonde straightened herself out while Ed and Hansel helped Ben to recuperate.

"Gretel…" Raena stepped up close to the brunette, voice lowering. "You haven't forgotten your promise, have you?"

"No…" Gretel's brown eyes shifted as she flashed Raena a glimpse of the dagger she was concealing within her boot. "But I'm not entirely sure that you've thought this plan all the way through-"

"I've thought it through one thousand times throughout the years. Trust me. This is the only way to ensure that Morgana's soul is destroyed." She placed a hand on Gretel's shoulder. "I'm counting on you, Gretel." Honey-colored eyes locked with Gretel's, and Raena knew that Gretel was good for her word.

Heaving a sigh, Gretel grabbed her crossbow from her back and prepped it, cocking an eyebrow as she tilted her head towards her friend. "Doesn't mean that I have to like it." She knew there had to have been another way. Glancing over at her brother, war-hardened and eager to protect his family, Gretel didn't know how she would be able to live with herself after this.

Raena gently patted the dagger sheated under her skirts as she looked between the others before turning to face her fate. Across the field was a large circle of ruins; gray, broken stones with a flat altar in the middle and Delona herself standing just behind it. She was busy at work with a large stone bowl infront of her, grinding who-knows-what into it as she muttered an incantation beneath her breath.

The trek across the field felt like hours as the group of four plus their troll strutted with confidence towards battle. They stopped about thirty yards away, Delona's red hair fluttering gently in the warm wind as she cracked a smile and looked up from under her eyelashes.

"Ah, sister. You're just in time." She straightened herself before leaving her spell and standing just at the edge of the ruins, peering down at her sister. Crossing her arms, she sneered at the others. "And you've brought your friends? Perfect. My ritual involves a blood sacrifice, as you may well know."

Raena felt herself twitch as she moved forward, the others spread out just behind her. "Delona, you know I can't let you do this. I'm asking you as your sister… Please…"

The laugh that escaped her twin's ruby red lips was high pitched and yet darker than usual. Her eyes blackened as she extended her hands to gesture at the broken land surrounding her. "Honestly, Raena! Look at us! We both knew it would come to this." Her hands fell to her hips as the sky above them darkened, black clouds forming in the sky and blocking out whatever miniscule moonlight they had been standing under. "I gave you plenty of chances over the years to join me. Things would be much simpler if you had just done what I asked." With a flick of her wrist her allies came out of their hiding spots, surrounding the humans.

Her eyes didn't break from her sister's gaze as Raena felt the presence of the other witches who moved to surround her and the others. "You have minions. I'm shocked." They both knew by the monotone rhythm of Rae's voice that she wasn't actually shocked. "It isn't too late, Delona." Her own eyes flashed as a few of the witches snickered, swiping at Ed and Ben with their claws and awaiting the order to strike.

Delona's voice darkened as she took another step forward, hands clenching into fists. "You never had a chance, Raena. You're pathetic. Always mother's favorite and yet you can't even manage to control your own powers. I'm finally going to rid you of your half of our Grandmother's soul, and watch as you _burn_." Her eyes burned with a fire that was foreign to her sister, earning a narrowed glare from the brunette.

"You really are blind, sister. She's using you. And if you think that she's going to allow you to live once you resurrect her, then you're more foolish than I thought."

Gretel stiffened beside Raena, Hansel taking a tiny step forward as he glanced around at the witches.

"I don't think it's smart to taunt her, Raena."

She flashed him a glare before turning her attention back to her sister. "It isn't Delona, now. She's gone." The pale form of her sister was simply a vessel, Morgana's eyes burning with a hungry desire as Raena clasped her hands together. "This is your last chance."

A sharp sneer spread across Delona's lips. "I'm ready when you are, _Poppet_."

Raena felt the pang of sorrow in her chest as she heard the nickname that her mother had given her. There was a loud hiss from behind her, and Raena looked over her shoulder to see Hansel, Gretel, Ed, and Ben entangled in a battle with Delona's minions. She sighed as she looked back at her sister's form and clenched her hands together, eyes closing. With a deep breath Raena prepared herself for the fight of her life.

* * *

It felt like hours as she went head to head with her sister. The two were trapped in a seemingly endless battle of strength, casting spell after spell and testing their physical strengths against each other. Raena didn't have time to look back and check on her humans, knowing that a single second of disctraction could cost her everything. She was bloodied and bruised, her dress tattered as she felt the hot blast of a red spell cast directly at her. Raena was strong, but without harnessing Morgana's powers, she was no match for Delona.

Raena tumbled to the ground, seering pain in her gut as she pushed herself up onto all fours and looked up at her sister. Pale skin shone brightly under in the darkness, eyes glowing as she took a few nonchalant steps forward and gestured around them. With the amount of magic that she'd been using to deter Delona, her honey eyes had long since turned white, her full powers still locked away as she focused solely on suriving. It wasn't time, she had to wait.

"Give up, Raena. You're just too weak."

Her eyes shifted as the brunette looked around. Gretel had lost her crossbow a long time ago, most of her ammunitions were out and she was currently fighting with everything that she had, channeling her inner white witch and protecting herself and the boys with her wand. Hansel looked weathered, but his face was determined as he sliced through the neck of a dark witch, staggering every so slightly and breathing heavily. Ed, who had started the fight roaring and physically tearing witches apart, was now hardly able to stand. The fire in him dwindling as he used his body to protect a beaten Ben. The young boy was barely able to stand, bleeding profusely from multiple wounds across his body.

"I'd love to stay and finish you off, unfortunately I need you alive for the moment." Just as Raena's white marbled gaze moved back to her sister, an aconite blade appeared in Delona's hand and she swiftly sliced aross the brunette's chest.

With a gasp Raena landed on her back, hands covering the dark crimson liquid that slowly started to seep between her fingers. She heard the footsteps of her sister dissipating into the distance and her eyes focused on the clouds above her. They were starting the part, rays of blue light piercing through as the blue moon began to come into view. It was dark and bright all at the same time, the blue pooling and swirling in itself. There were no stars that night, the only thing in the black sky was the piercing round planet gravitating high above.

Her arm pulsated, and Raena held it abover her as the black veins crept from her fingers up her forearm, twisting amongt themselves and heading up to her shoulder. Sitting up, she felt the painful surge creeping up her neck and over her jawline. It felt like a fire seering inside of her as the black reached the corner of her eye and began to swirl with the white. Morgana was itching to be released, clawing at her from her core and screaming.

An icy gaze locked with hers, and her head snapped up. Hansel tore his blade from the heart of a witch, watching Raena in anticipation. His feet moved as he took a step toward her, but she shook her head. They had a plan and she couldn't let him falter from it. With a painful groan, Raena forced herself from the ground and turned. As the clouds had parted and the moon came into view, Delona returned to her spell. She was twisting her hands together, eyes closed as her body swayed. A dark blue aura surrounded her, glowing darkly.

Raena clenched her fists and stumbled across the field to the ruins, landing hard against what was left of the stone wall.

"Delona! Stop this!" Flicking her wrist, a sharp whip of electricity shot out and struck her sister's arm, earning a painful scream from the red-haired woman before she opened her eyes and growled.

"It's over, Raena! Don't be a fool!"

Forcing herself to stand and clenching her right hand into a fist, Raena pushed forward and stopped only a few feet from Delona. She threw her hand out, but before she could unleash her spell Delona was taking her by the throat, clawed fingers digging into the flesh of Raena's neck.

"You really are pitiful." She pulled the other woman close, their face a mere few inches away. "All of that power, and you've been wasting it away for centuries." Clicking her tongue against the back of her teeth, Delona shook her head.

Gretel unleashed a final cry as she sliced through the flesh of the witch in front of her. Her gaze turned to the ruins across the field where Delona had a death grip on Raena. Her chest heaved as she looked over at Hansel, a sadness washing over her. He'd noticed their friend's struggle, but he was overwhelmed by a group of three witches that had him surrounded. He called out to Gretel, but she knew what would happen if she helped him. They only had one chance at this.

One of the witches fell and Hansel kicked another one, giving himself a brief few seconds to lock his eyes with Gretel's and shake his head. "What the hell are you doing?! Help me!"

Taking a deep breath, Gretel tossed him her acanite blade, shaking her head and taking off across the field. "You have to trust me, brother! I'm sorry!" She didn't slow down until she was closer to the ruins, hunching low enough so that Delona wouldn't see her and pulling out the items that she had in a satchel attached to her belt. Her fingers worked tirelessly to pinch them all together and wrap them in a small piece of papyrus.

Raena felt a warmth behind her, and she knew that Gretel was there, only a yard or two away. She had to keep Delona distracted. Grabbing the woman's wrist with her right hand, she felt the darkness slowly taking it's hold.

"Delona…" Tears pulled at the corner of Raena's eyes, her left hand sliding between the slit in her skirts unbenownst to her sister. "Please…" Her voice wavered, quiet and sad as her grip on the woman's wrist tightened. "Don't do this." This only caused the sneer on the other woman's face to widen as she leaned in closer to whisper.

"She'll kill them first… Slowly… And only because you love them so." Her free hand moved to rest over Raena's heart, eyes as black as Morgana's soul and teeth gleaming like fangs. "You've failed, Poppet. Just like I've always said you would. And soon you'll meet your mother in the afterlife, both of you doomed to spend an enternity wallowing in your own self pity while I bring your precious little world to ruin. I see a future for your humans; glorious and blood-ridden. She might even keep your favorites around for a while. Afterall, she'll need someone to feed off of. Though…" her free hand moved up, fingers tracing the black lines on Raena's face. "With you out of the picture I can't imagine they'll last very long. Do you feel it, Raena? Her power within you – the thing that you've been fighting your entire life – it will be your demise. And it will be _painful_."

Raena's gaze shifted upwards to the moon, before falling back on Delona. She blinked at the woman, shaking her head. "I'm so sorry that I failed you, sister…" The Devil's Blade slid through Delona's flesh easily as Raena thrust it into her heart. Delona's eyes widened, releasing her grip on Raena's throat as she stumbled back a step and looked down. The golden hilt of the blade stuck out from the dark witch's bosom, and she looked back up at her sister before muttering the words that would destroy Delona. "Ethre tera noviles..."

Delona threw her head back as a deafening scream erupted from her lungs. Black tar spewed from her mouth, the bones throughout her body crackling as Morgana's soul fought to survive. Raena felt her own bones beginning to crack, doubling over as the trapped soul within her attempted to take control. She clenched her jaw and let out a cry of pain, barely able to watch as Delona's body began to collapse within itself, her skin blackening and peeling away in charred layers. Lightening struck above, and within moments there was nothing but black cinders wafting in the air where the dark witch had stood. The blade dropped to the ground, clinking against the stones and gleaming in the moonlight.

Gretel stood just inside the barrier that she'd put up, watching as her friend's body contorted itself and low growls escaped the woman's lips. "Rae?" Her voice was quiet, and she paused as Raena's head twitched, cocking to the side before she slowly turned on the hunter. Gretel's fingers gripped the handle of her dagger, hidden behind her back. She came face to face with Raena, both eyes were black as coal and her veins were pulsing, clearly visible through her pale skin. "Raena, I know you're in there."

There was nothing but red behind her eyes as Raena looked at the woman in front of her. There was an anger within her, urging her to kill the woman then and there. She snarled at Gretel, barely recognizing her dark eyes as she moved to grab the woman's throat. Her hand fell short as a sharp pain ricocheted through her chest. A painful scream sounded from behind them, and a loud bang erupted as Hansel slammed his fists against the nearly invisible barrier surrounding the two women.

Her lungs filled quickly, and Raena coughed the thick black substance up just as her fingers reached Gretel's face. A warm tear escaped the corner of her eye. Caged within her own body, she knew what was to come. "T-tell him-" she coughed again, the life-force draining from her body quickly as Raena looked past Gretel and locked her black gaze on Hansel, beating repeatedly against the barrier and shouting at the two women. "Tell him I'm sorry… And I love him…"

Gretel nodded fervently, blinking through her own tears as she prepared herself to repeat the final words of the spell.

Raena closed her eyes, deaf to the final words as she allowed the darkness to finally take over. She would finally be rid of her curse, and hopefully she'd done enough in life to find peace in the afterlife. A warm, orange light surrounded her, enveloping her being before a bright flash and then… nothing.

Gretel slowly lowered her friend's lifeless body to the ground, wiping her tears away with the back of her hand as she finally broke her concentration and the barrier around them fell. She heard Hansel's panicked footsteps come up behind her as he pushed her out of the way and dropped to the ground next to Raena's body. He took her head and shoulders in his hands, ever so carefully lifting her and hugging her against his chest.

"What have you done?!" His voice boomed as one hand travelled down to Raena's neck in desperate search of a pulse.

"She made me promise-" Her voice caught in her throat as she looked at their friend. The other dark witches had either been defeated or fled upon Delona's demise, leaving the hunters there alone with their fallen friend.

Hansel shook his head, dropping it in dismay. "She swore that we would all make it out alive."

Gretel reached out and touched his shoulder. "Hansel-" He pulled back from her touch, narrowing his eyes at her. "Please! I need you to trust me."

He eyed his sister, knowing that she had always had his best interest at heart. But this –killing Raena- he wasn't sure he could forgive her for this. Still, he gave her a curt nod, to which she sighed with relief.

"Come on, we should take her body somewhere safe. I can't leave her here, not after everything that she's done for us." She stood, ushering Hansel aside so that Ed could scoop up Raena's limp body. "I know a place, it's a few miles away. We can make it by morning." She turned, Ben's red, puffy eyes meeting hers as she headed down the steps of the ruins and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "She wouldn't want us to stop." There were no other words spoken between the four for the remainder of their journey. After a night of restless sleep, they continued their journey to a small farm that Raena had told Gretel about a few weeks earlier.

Hansel and his sister peered out at the log cabin resting in a field of golden wheat as Ed and Ben escorted their fallen friend a few yards ahead of them.

"This was where her mother raised them when they were children." Gretel's voice was rough, her throat dry and body aching as she peered over at her brother. "She'll be at peace here."

He didn't respond, instead answering with silence as he pushed forward. Hansel had felt the pain of heartbreak before. Unfortunately it was much harder this time. He'd envisioned a future for them all. _Together_. And now, because of his sister and Raena's stubbornness, he wasn't going to see that future.

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Don't hate me! I'm sorry! One more chapter to go. It'll be shorter, but I think it'll be worth it. Hope you enjoyed, please read and review!


	11. Chapter 11

Sorry everyone, I was down a computer! But here it is, the final chapter. Please leave a review and let me know what you all think! 3

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There had never been a time in Raena's life that she could remember when all of the pain and anguish had faded away into nothing. She came to in a field of warmth, lying down on what felt like silk but looked like sand. Spurts of green grass surrounded her as she sat up and shielded her eyes from the bright sunlight in the cloudless sky. The air was warm and soothing, a serene quiet enveloping the witch for the first time ever.

Just as she stood and dusted herself off another figure appeared ahead of her, matching her in height and build almost exactly. Raena's breath caught in her throat as she looked up to match her honeyed gaze with that of her mother's.

"Raena." Her voice was soft and gentle like summer rain, dripping with pride as she extended her arms to welcome her daughter.

Before the brunette realized it, her feet were pulling her and she closed the distance quickly. Hot tears spilled from the corners of her eyes as she wrapped her arms tightly around the soft figure of her mother, burying her face into her shoulder and squeezing her tightly.

"You feel so real…"

"That's because I am, Rae. I'm right here, I'm not going anywhere." She gently stroked her daughter's hair, playing with the wavy curls lightly.

Raena closed her eyes tightly as she reveled in the scents of Juniper and Rosemary. She remembered her mother had always smelled like that, and she had always played with Raena's hair just like she was at that moment. After a few moments she finally loosened her grip and took a small step back, peering up at the one person who had given her strength to keep fighting all those years.

"I thought I'd never see you again." Her voice was choked as she wiped the tears from her eyes.

Demaria smiled down at Raena and patted down the strays of brown curls that went wild atop the girl's head. "It's over now, darling. You can rest easy knowing that you sacrificed all to save mankind. And your mother is so very proud of you." Pulling Raena forward, she placed a kiss on her forehead and smiled proudly. "Every day of your life I was there, and with every passing moment I was more proud than the last. You are everything that I knew you would be, Rae."

A genuine smile passed over her lips as Raena let out a chuckle, relief washing over her. "It was so hard, mama. I was so alone, and I failed to save-" Her eyes widened as she looked around before her gaze landed back on her mother. "Delona?" The smile on her mother's lips faltered and she shook her head.

"Oh, Raena..." Just like that Demaria composed herself and placed her hands on Raena's shoulders. "It wasn't your fault. None of us could have saved her. Do _not_ blame yourself, darling. She has to make amends for the evils that she has done." There was a brief moment of silence before she sighed and the smile was back on her lips. "Don't fret. Delona will make her amends, and some day she may even join me here."

Raena nodded, forcing a small smile as she looked up at the woman in front of her. Demaria had always seemed ethereal to her daughter. The way she carried herself, the way her voice carried melodically as she spoke, even the way she frowned was something otherworldly.

"I missed you so much."

"I missed you, too, darling. That's why I had to see you. You deserved a break after everything that you've been through. I had always hoped to see you happy, I'm just sorry it took all these years. But now!" She waved her hands up and down as she gestured towards Raena. "You've finally found the family that you deserved, and the one that deserved you."

Raena felt a pang in her chest as she only then thought about the people she left behind. But the memory of them brought a smile to her face as she nodded. "You would have loved Gretel, she was full of fire. Ben was like the brother that I never wanted, and Ed is just a big ol' troll who never failed to make me feel safe…" Her voice trailed off, gaze focusing on some faraway place somewhere behind her mother.

"And Hansel?"

The sharp yet quiet words that come from her mother's mouth pulled Raena back as she blushed lightly. "Everything that I've always wanted, and could never have. I know you would have approved-" She shook her head. "How did you-"

"I told you, darling, I was there with you every day. I could never touch you or speak to you, but I was there, watching over you just the same. Not a day went by that I hated myself for not being able to help you." Tears pulled at her eyes, but she shook them off as she dusted off her skirts and sighed. "It was selfish of me to keep you this long, but, I had to see you. "

Raena caught the falter in Demaria's voice and she tilted her head, raising a brow. "Mama, I made it. I've finally made it back to you. For eternity. "

Demaria tugged her daughter into her, hugging her tightly for a long moment. When she did release her, she placed another soft kiss on Raena's forehead. "I love you, Raena. Always and forever." She took both of Raena's hands in her own, giving them a reassuring squeeze. "And one day we will find each other again. But for now… You have to go _home_."

There was a loud crack as lightning streaked across the sky. Raena felt like she'd been stabbed in the chest all over again. Wind howled as she was thrown backwards, her mother ripped from her grip and disappearing as dark clouds enveloped her. In her attempts to scream, Raena found she had no voice, and the lightning sparked around her as she was thrust through a black tunnel.

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She gasped, sitting up quickly and clutching her chest. Her body ached, head spinning as she inhaled the heavy, musky scent of old wood and hay. As her eyes fought to adjust to the dimly light room that she was in, Raena tumbled from the soft object beneath her and landed hard on her hands and knees. The texture beneath her fingers was almost like splintered wood, tattered from neglect. Raena began to wonder if this was the Underworld, throwing her hands out as they emitted a soft white light.

It took a few seconds for her to realize that she was in a room, much like a bedroom. "Wait…" It felt so familiar to her, and she slowly spun in a circle as she took in her surroundings. Finding the window, Raena rushed to it and pulled it open. The light that spilled in was enough for her to see the door on the other side of the room, and a set of clothes hung up on the partition close by.

It started to slowly dawn on her that she couldn't be in the Underworld; there were no flames or screams of suffering souls, no fire-breathing demons torturing those who committed acts of evil in their mortal lives. This was simply a bed chamber with all of the basic necessities that one would need. Reaching out she ran her hands along the soft, dull fabrics of the skirts and bodice that hung on the partition. They seemed brand new, yet comfortable as if they'd been sewn from silk.

Raena took longer than usual to get dressed, feeling the soreness in her right chest, the red slit still brighter than her other scars. For the first time she could feel the tightness of her skin in the areas where her wounds had once healed. Some areas - such as her chest, and shoulder blades – were tighter than others. She pushed the thoughts to the back of her mind as she finished tying her bodice and stepped from the room.

Not more than ten seconds had passed as she moved down the hallway and into the main living areas before Raena realized where she was: her childhood home. Most everything had been kept exactly how she remembered it after her mother had been killed. Except there was no dust, as if someone had gone through and cleaned up the years of neglect that she was sure had showered her safe haven. The only things that seemed out of place were a few dishes here and there, the table had been set for five, seemingly recently used.

The brunette walked carefully across the room and pulled the latch for the front door, stepping barefoot out onto the small porch and gazing across the overgrown green fields. There in the distance she saw three specks that were no doubt her friends, sawing and hacking away as they attempted to clean up the land.

Raena almost didn't believe it as she moved towards them, relishing the feel of the freshly sown grass beneath her feet. Just when she got close enough to speak, Ed turned and spotted her, grunting loudly before tossing down his scythe and rushing her. Ben followed suit, and by the time the two had reached Raena and were hugging her, she looked up to see Gretel, smiling widely as she leaned against the scythe she'd been using.

"I knew it! I knew she'd done the spell correctly!" Ben clapped Raena on the back before grabbing her hand and scurrying towards Gretel. "I told her not to worry!"

When she reached the other woman, Ben released her and Raena shook her head, a smile gracing her lips. "What did you do?"

Gretel shrugged, playing coy. "Nothing special."

" _How_ , Gretel?" She felt tears pulling at her eyes as Raena placed her hands on her hips in an attempt to intimidate her friend.

"While you were look for a way to destroy Morgana…" A wave of seriousness washed over Gretel as she met Raena's gaze. "I was looking for a way to save _you_. It's as simple as that."

A quiet moment fell between the two before Raena knocked the scythe from Gretel's hand and pulled the woman into a fierce hug. When she managed to find her voice again, she whispered, "thank you."

Gretel's only reply was to squeeze Raena tighter as they hugged for a long minute. When they finally pulled away, she gave the other brunette a nod. "You should have known that we don't give up on family."

"I'm eternally grateful, Gretel, I really am. I just… I don't understand. I thought that I was dead."

Ben shifted uncomfortably beside the two. "Well, you _were_. For a few days, actually."

Ed nudged the boy hard, shock clearly written across Raena's features before Gretel cut in.

"The spell wasn't guaranteed to work, and we actually thought that I hadn't done it correctly at first. Because you were gone for so long, we thought about burying you out here. But I couldn't do it."

Raena nodded, crossing her arms over her chest as she glanced down at her feet. "Why didn't you tell me your plan?"

"I didn't tell anyone, not even Hansel. I was afraid of giving you false hope, and you were so resilient and had us all believing that you wanted death. I almost didn't follow through with the spell because of it." She shrugged again before leaning down and picking her scythe back up. "But then I realized that I didn't actually care what you wanted, because we're your family and I knew I had to bring you home. One way or another, I wasn't giving up on you."

Her gaze flitted between the three, and Raena couldn't help but smile. "I love you guys."

"We know!" Ben chuckled before Gretel shot him a warning glare, but her eyes were playful.

"We have work to do, so I suggest _you_ get out of our way. You get to cook dinner tonight since you're finally away, Sleeping Beauty." Gretel playfully pinched at Raena's cheeks and the four laughed before Raean's gaze shifted. Clearing her throat, Gretel tossed her head to the forest across the field, giving her friend a knowing wink.

Raena caught on, giving Gretel a small hug before hurrying off in the direction she'd been given. She walked quickly, eyes scanning the field and the tree-line until she finally spotted the dark outline of the man that she was looking for. Her feet stopped, planting herself there as she watched him emerge from the forest with a few pheasants and a rabbit, all of which her strung together and hanging over his left shoulder, his crossbow was hoisted above his right as he marched forward, eyes downcast.

Her heart sped up in her chest as Raena thought about what she wanted to say to him. He hadn't yet seen her, and she actually contemplated running back to the cabin without speaking to him. But just as she went to turn, he looked up, icy gaze falling on her as he came up over the berm. His feet slowed, but he didn't stop walking, instead pulling his gaze away and casting it back down. Raena stood and stared in confusion as he moved past her, barely a few inches from her and not giving her the light of day.

There was a sickening pain in her gut as she clutched at the fabric over her stomach, turning quickly and forcing her voice out.

"Hansel!" She watched as he stopped in his tracks, body tensing as he turned his head slightly as if to hear her better. "I-I'm sorry." Her voice cracked and Raena held back her tears. "I didn't think there was a way to destroy Morgana and save m-myself. I didn't want to hurt you." His shoulder slouched slightly as the animals he'd just finished hunting slid to the ground, his crossbow following suit. Raena twisted her hands together and took a startled step back as he turned on her quickly, eyeing her.

His face was contorted in what seemed to be anger, pain, and shock. Hansel took a few long steps and had closed the distance between the two of them before Raena could disappear again. He grabbed her by the waist, pulling her into him as he took her lips with his own.

Raena felt the shock of one-thousand lightning bolts striking at once as she felt the warmth of Hansel's lips, the sheer passion that he kissed her with as one of his hands moved up to her neck and his thumb caressed her cheek. Her eyes had closed before she knew it and her hands moved to grip the unsewn collar of his off-white shirt. He left her breathless when he pulled back just far enough to look her over. She opened her eyes and blinked up at him, folding under the look in his eyes.

"I thought you were another mirage." He breathed heavily, hot breath tickling her lips as Hansel closed his eyes, pressed his forehead to hers, and inhaled her scent.

She moved her hand to cover his, leaning into him and gently shaking her head. "I'm so, so sorry, Hansel…"

Clearing his throat, Hansel took her face in both of his hands and pressed a long, gentle kiss to her lips. Afterwards he looked down at her. "Stay with me, Raena. Please?"

Raena nodded without hesitation. "Always." She bit her bottom lip as he smiled. She finally realized in that moment, as she looked up at his blue gaze and the love in his eyes, that she wouldn't want to be anywhere but there.

The two made their way back across the field, Hansel's arm securely around Raena's waist as she carried his catch and he carried his crossbow. She leaned into his warmth as they came upon Gretel and the others, who were all poking fun at each other and hardly doing any actual work.

Gretel turned to her brother and her friend, placing her free hand on her hip and nodding in approval.

Raena and Hansel made it to the front door of the cabin, and he took the animals from her before taking them inside. She glanced back at the others in the field as the sun shone behind a large cloud and cast a beautiful orange hue across the land. She felt Hansel's hands around her as he hugged her from behind and kissed her neck. Covering his hands with one of her own, she wrapped her free hand back and around his neck.

"Welcome home, Raena."

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There it is! Hope you all enjoyed! 3


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